Death in the Modern World

Tony Walter

2020-01 · SAGE

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Death comes to all humans, but how death is managed, symbolised and experienced varies widely, not only between individuals but also between groups. What then shapes how a society manages death, dying and bereavement today? Are all modern countries similar? How important are culture, the physical environment, national histories, national laws and institutions, and globalization? This is the first book to look at how all these different factors shape death and dying in the modern world.

Written by an internationally renowned scholar in death studies, and drawing on examples from around the world, including the UK, USA, China and Japan, The Netherlands, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. This book investigates how key factors such as money, communication technologies, economic in/security, risk, the family, religion, and war, interact in complex ways to shape people’s experiences of dying and grief.

Essential reading for students, researchers and professionals across sociology, anthropology, social work and healthcare, and for anyone who wants to understand how countries around the world manage death and dying.

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Tony Walter is Emeritus Professor of Death Studies at the University of Bath, UK. His research into death and society has included end of life care, social networks and care, funeral practice, bereavement, spiritualism, belief in reincarnation, the idea that the dead become angels, mass media and social media, pilgrimage, and the use of human remains in exhibitions. He has lectured around the world, and has also trained clergy and funeral celebrants. His seventeen books include Funerals (1990), Pilgrimage in Popular Culture (1993), The Revival of Death (1994), The Eclipse of Eternity (1996), On Bereavement (1999), and What Death Means Now (2017). Before 1994, he was freelance, writing books and articles on religion, landscape, social security reform, and basic income.