Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-54dcc4c588-br6xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-06T13:12:12.539Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Dignity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2025

Tanu Kumar
Affiliation:
Claremont Graduate University, California
Get access

Summary

This chapter explores the effects of government-subsidized homeownership on dignity. I develop a two-part definition of dignity as beneficiaries' experienced agency in their own lives and in their relationships with others. This definition builds upon and engages with work in philosophy, history, political science, and international development. I further show how housing shapes individuals' perception of themselves and the future through quotes, causally identified effects, and a measure of dignity based on eye contact. Broadly, beneficiaries seem to be much more able to pursue their own goals and interests and assert themselves in society. I provide evidence for my theoretical mechanisms, which are related to wealth, certainty about the future, and the fact that housing is an important marker of status in society. This chapter highlights the importance of studying dignity in its own right, but it also serves as an important bridge connecting the effects on income and wealth, as explored in Chapter 3, to the effects on political behavior in Chapter 5.

Information

Type
Chapter
Information
Building Social Mobility
How Subsidized Homeownership Creates Wealth, Dignity, and Voice in India
, pp. 90 - 114
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Accessibility standard: Inaccessible, or known limited accessibility

The PDF of this book is known to have missing or limited accessibility features. We may be reviewing its accessibility for future improvement, but final compliance is not yet assured and may be subject to legal exceptions. If you have any questions, please contact accessibility@cambridge-org.demo.remotlog.com.

Content Navigation

Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge-org.demo.remotlog.com is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Dignity
  • Tanu Kumar, Claremont Graduate University, California
  • Book: Building Social Mobility
  • Online publication: 15 September 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009636964.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Dignity
  • Tanu Kumar, Claremont Graduate University, California
  • Book: Building Social Mobility
  • Online publication: 15 September 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009636964.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Dignity
  • Tanu Kumar, Claremont Graduate University, California
  • Book: Building Social Mobility
  • Online publication: 15 September 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009636964.004
Available formats
×