ABSTRACT
In contemporary India, where everyday acts of othering and indignities are embedded within social, economic, political, and cultural realities—including within the healthcare system—the “passivity” of citizens, epitomized by the archetype of the “passive patient”, is often both expected and perpetuated by individuals and institutions. This compels one to center embodied and epistemic injustice, where shame and humiliation are integral to the lives of marginalized individuals. Viewed through the lens of indignities, the ethical and political question arises: why is the archetype of the “passive patient” morally wrong? Building on the analysis from the previous four chapters and drawing from philosophical, phenomenological, and sociological literature on relational conceptions of self within oppressive socio-historical political conditions, this chapter argues that self-respect and recognition are a necessary precondition for patient rights, decision-making, autonomy, and informed consent discourses. This recognition is also a pathway toward reimagining the archetype of the patient as a social and political agent. Such an approach moves beyond mere discussions of autonomous decisions and informed consent within healthcare ethics, instead centering recognition, self-respect, and justice. This chapter seeks to reflect on these questions by foregrounding the multiplicity and poly-stability of everyday indignities that target one's epistemic, affective, and social self, which disrupt the conception of self and undermine true dignity. It aims to serve, as the conclusion to this book, as a critical reminder to reflect on the moral world we aspire to in the unequal societies we inhabit and to move away from the archetype of the “passive patient” toward ‘situated patient’.
