The Ability to go about Without Shame: A Proposal for Internationally Comparable Indicators of Shame and Humiliation

Shame and humiliation are central to the understanding of poverty yet internationally comparable data on this dimension are missing. Based on existing indicators from related fields, this article suggests eight indicators to measure specific aspects of shame and humiliation that could start an in-depth debate around this topic. The indicators are the following: whether respondents would feel shame if they were poor; levels of shame proneness; perceptions of respectful treatment, unfair treatment and prejudiced treatment; whether respondents perceive that their ethnic, racial or cultural background affects their chances of getting jobs, public services and education; whether respondents perceive that economic conditions affect their chances of getting jobs, services and education; and levels of accumulated humiliation. This is not to argue against the need to articulate abstract principles, but rather to suggest that they may best emerge from the clash of interpretations and arguments around less abstract questions. (Lukes, 1997, p. 4)