ARTICLE
Dignity Takings and Dignity Restoration: Creating a New Theoretical Framework for Understanding Involuntary Property Loss and the Remedies Required
Bernadette Atuahene,
Bernadette Atuahene
Bernadette Atuahene: is a Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology. She may be contacted at [email protected].
Search for more papers by this authorBernadette Atuahene,
Bernadette Atuahene
Bernadette Atuahene: is a Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology. She may be contacted at [email protected].
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
In We Want What's Ours: Learning from South Africa's Land Restitution Program, I introduced the concept of “dignity takings,” which I defined as property confiscation that involves the dehumanization or infantilization of the dispossessed. I argued that the appropriate remedy for a dignity taking is “dignity restoration”: material compensation to dispossessed populations through processes that affirm their humanity and reinforce their agency. For this symposium, contributors were invited to examine these paired concepts through case studies beyond the South African context. This introductory essay summarizes the central arguments of We Want What's Ours and considers how the symposium contributions confirm, extend, or revise the concepts of dignity takings and dignity restoration.
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Cases Cited
- Johnson v. M'Intosh, 21 U.S. 543 (1823).
- Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005).
- Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948).
Statutes Cited
- Land Restitution Act, South Africa (1994).
- South African Constitution (1996).
