Briefing of the Human Development and Capability Association

Last year, we devoted two issues on the multi-dimensional aspect of poverty. How to measure such dimensions such as shame or dignified employment? How to choose the relevant dimensions in given context? This Maitreyee goes further and explores the relational aspect associated with each dimension of poverty. If a person is treated with humiliation when seeking health care in a public hospital because of her belonging to an ethnic minority, shame ceases to be an individual characteristic and becomes inherent in the person’s relationship to a group – her ethnic group – and the relationship of that group to another – the ethnic majority.