Both public and academic debates about the concept of human dignity are to date dominated by philosophical, legal and theological perspectives, while sociological contributions remain conspicuously scarce. This article aims at developing a genuine sociological concept of dignity, which binds together problems of human expression with socio-structural conditions of modernity (urban public sphere, division of labour, variety of roles, etc.). The argument unfolds in three steps: first, drawing upon the works of Helmuth Plessner, Erving Goffman and Niklas Luhmann, I identify those situations which allow us to distinguish problems of dignity from those associated with other expectational forms (particularly honour). Secondly, I turn to Simmel, Durkheim and Luhmann in order to pursue a role-theoretical clarification of the concept of dignity. Finally, I inquire into the question of how the systematic yield of these sociological considerations relates to the emphatic and heavily normative understanding of human dignity which pervades recent philosophical and juridical discourses.