Storytelling and Human Dignity
Over the past several years it seems to have become fashionable to label people we disagree with in the most nonhuman ways.
I won’t repeat these terms but most of us can conjure them in our minds.
Will dehumanizing others through our language bring about the changes we want to see in the world?
I’ve been thinking a lot about the world ‘dignity.’ It is a stated United Nations Human Right.
In 1948 it was written in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the preamble:
“Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
Dignity in Syria
In 2017 I started researching the origins of the 2015 conflict in Syria. What struck me about the refugees I met in Berlin was the story I heard over and over, from very different people at different times.
They told a story of boys in Daraa being imprisoned for painting graffiti against Assad. When the parents went to get the kids they were told they would not be released. This led to protests on the streets, people be shot, protests rising up across the country.
The official media told a different story, a story or terrorists on the streets. But when I went in search of evidence I found protest videos where people were shouting for dignity.
A few years earlier that same demand came from Egypt and Tunisia.
Today, if you look for those videos, the ones I found from Syria, they have been removed from YouTube. Those shouts for dignity muted.
Dignity and Conflict
So I’ve been thinking about dignity for several years and I’ve been exploring it in different forms. My documentary, Beard Club, in a way was a look at dignity and acceptance. My article on How to Humanize Humans is a look at this topic. The story approach and book I’m working on, the WeStory is about how to move away from “us” vs “them” thinking which drops us into othering and puts us on the path to dehumanizing.
Just recently I learned of the work by Donna Hicks, Harvard University professor and International conflict resolution specialist and her book, Dignity, It’s Essential Role in Resolving Conflict.
Hicks, has taught conflict resolution at Harvard, Clark and Columbia College and has 25 years of experience facilitating dialogues for parties in conflict from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Northern Ireland to Columbia nad Sri Lanka and beyond. She found that underneath the surface of the political discussion were emotions such as hostility, shame and anger and she felt these needed to be addressed but that they could not be addressed framed as emotions.
What they really want to be saying to each other is, “How dare you treat us this way.” Or, “Can’t you see we’re suffering. Can’t you see my community is hurting. Don’t think we’re human beings.”
She wanted to know how to bring these conversations to the table. One day she realized that each of the emotions were linked to a wound to one’s dignity, and she thought that by framing the issues around the concept of dignity that people would speak to the underlying emotional issues.
In that context people talked. Everyone wanted to tell a story. And they told stories about historical injuries to dignity.
Hick’s definition of dignity is about our inherent value and worth and just as we are vulnerable to physical injuries our dignity is vulnerable to attack.
Ten Elements of Dignity
Acceptance: Everybody wants their identity accepted
Recognition: People want recognition for their unique qualities and way of life
Acknowledgement: when something bad happens to them
Inclusion: to feel they belong
Safety: They want safety, physical and psychological
Fairness: Be treated fairly
Independence, to feel in control of their life
Understanding: what others think matters
Benefit of the Doubt: treat people as if they are trustworthy
Accountability: People want an apology when someone does them wrong
Rising to our Highest Common Denominator
As humans, each and every one of us wants to be treated with dignity.
“Everybody wants to be treated as if they matter. That is our highest common denominator.”
People around the world have been in the streets demanding dignity. It is a concept that introduces the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.
Most citizens in democracies spend more time studying the causes, impacts and implications of conflict and war than the actions fundamental to preventing war and to resolving conflict when it arises.
In a separate interview Hicks described research that showed in an fMRI scan how the brain centers are impacted when humans receive a slight to one’s dignity. The brain registers these slights as a wound.
Thought Experiment
When you are telling your stories, can you keep these ten elements of dignity in mind?
Notice how this might impact that story you tell.
References:
The Guardian Article on Daraa, Syria: The original article is no longer online, here is a link to an article from Anadolu Agency, Syria’s ‘Graffiti Boy’ Recalls Start of Deadly Conflict
Interview with Donna Hicks: Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflicts
Full List of Ten Elements of Dignity: Blog, Organizing Engagement