This special issue investigates the meaning of justice and dignity and how they have changed over time. What do we mean by human dignity? How do we understand and interpret that meaning? How has it evolved?

Showcasing a selection of papers responding to this critical central question, the authors delve into issues such as the foundational roles of justice and dignity in practical philosophy and the idea that human dignity must be understood as the right to be recognized as a participant in the institutional practice of human and fundamental rights, analysing how this modern conception was incorporated into the practice of human rights after Auschwitz as a response to a crisis in the modern model of the practice of rights. Furthermore, the authors study examples of misinterpretation of the philosophical term and historical concept of human dignity in contemporary legal theory and practice alongside Kant's notion of human dignity, that is understood as a novel 'care of the self'. Self-violation of dignity and the exposure to violation by others – thoughtlessly or intentionally – gives way to an exploration of the language of anti-violence activists, university coordinators, and due process activists concerned with Title IX and campus sexual violence.

Providing a comprehensive look at historic and contemporary meanings of human dignity, this edited collection is an appealing read for scholars interested in the intersection of dignity with philosophy, law, human rights, legal theory, social theory, and more.