Dignity lives on: a comprehensive review and critical reflections on its relevance and enduring impact in modern discourse

The domain of dignity has evolved from the ancient Greek, Roman, and Biblical roots to the more recent personalist and rights-based principle. Despite speculations about the gradual demise of the concept, dignity continues to resonate across various social science domains, demonstrating its enduring relevance despite conceptual quagmires. This persistence underscores the need for a comprehensive review of the domain. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review with 234 articles published during 2000–2024 to establish the state of dignity domain in social sciences. By engaging in reflexive thematic analysis, we synthesize three broad themes, namely (i) Dignity at the workplace: Navigating organizational hierarchies, structures, and stigmatized professions; (ii) Dignity as inherent value: Normative dignity as the base for ethics, justice, rights, and equality; and (iii) Social co-construction of dignity: Contingent dignity based on social functions, roles, and structures. Finally, we critically reflect on the emerging insights and develop a compelling case for dignity illuminating its experiential pervasiveness, pragmatic relevance, and absent presence. To conclude, we craft a future research agenda with indicative questions for future scholars.