Devaluation, power, and resistance: The experience of humiliation among Dalits in India

This study reports interview data gathered with Dalits in India on the topic of humiliation ( N = 19). We demonstrate the prevalence of humiliation in their everyday experience and provide novel insights concerning the experience, the conditions, and the consequences of humiliation. First, we show that the experience of humiliation is rooted in the tension between being devalued by others and being powerless to respond. Second, we show that this experience is contingent upon developing a valued sense of self. Third, we show that the responses to humiliating experiences are enacted in a strategic manner and center on the possibility of collective resistance. We conclude by underlining the importance of humiliation in Dalit lives and its collective nature. We therefore argue that a decolonized psychology should pay more attention to humiliation and should also reconceptualize it by paying more attention to identity, power, and resistance.