2023 Presidential Address: Dignity and Denigration in Economic Life

Sociologists have long addressed the puzzles posed by dignity. In The Polish Peasant, families went out of their way to provide a decent burial for their loved ones, even when social workers and others schooled in financial literacy advised against it. In some communities suffering from fracking, those who arrived to advocate for environmental justice sometimes forgot to honor the dignity of those being devastated by their changing economy and society. In studies of the Child Tax Credit, how money was delivered to families in need (and how they earmarked it) affected what they did with it as they sought dignity and dreams. These social issues highlight the twin challenges of dignity and denigration that motivate human interaction and shape economic life. Drawing on the case of debt collection in the United States, I present a novel framework of how people engage in denigration management strategies, as opposed to stigma management strategies, to protect their dignity and to achieve nearly full or partial social integration or full social exclusion. The 2023 Presidential Address at the 93rd Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting explores these themes.