Incorporating dignity in urban mobility justice: moral emotions and injustice in Blackburn, UK

Journal article

Debates on transport and mobility justice would be enriched by a more thorough and critical engagement with dignity. As dignity is a complex, contested, and multi-faceted concept which has been theorised across multiple disciplines, its various dimensions and their applications to urban mobility justice frameworks require gradual unpacking. In this paper we focus on one dimension: the tension between externally defined notions of dignity, presented as universal criteria to be fulfilled for a ‘threshold’ of justice to be met; and a relational and situated notion of dignity, grounded in the moral emotions of the person or group experiencing indignity. We argue that, similarly to dominant understandings of urban mobility justice, a universalist and ‘objective’ definition of dignity risks imposing rigid framings on marginalised groups, erasing their own experiences and perspectives, and thus the possibility of them substantively shaping nominally ‘just’ policy and planning decisions. A dignity framework presents an opportunity to feature the moral emotions of transport users, and particularly those who are marginalised on the basis of income, disability, gender, and race/ethnicity, among others, more prominently in urban mobility justice. This is especially relevant in the context of transport modes such as urban buses, a historically under-funded and poorly regarded mode of transport. Drawing on data gathered through focus group discussions and analysed inductively, we develop these ideas drawing on experiences of people living in and around Blackburn, an urban area in the North-West of England, UK.

Authors: Plyushteva, AE; Francis, S

• Publication status: Accepted
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Journal: Urban Studies
• Acceptance date: 2026-06-10
• EISSN: 1360-063X
• ISSN: 0042-0980
• Language: English
• Keywords: mobility justice; transport justice; dignity; moral emotions; urban transport; Blackburn; UK