Cemeteries and crematoria, forgotten public space in multicultural Europe. An agenda for inclusion and citizenship

Abstract

In western Europe, municipal or otherwise state-commissioned cemeteries and crematoria are public spaces and services, open to all. Cemeteries and crematoria grounds are neglected in geographical, planning and policy debates about the character, design, management, use and accessibility of public spaces, and likewise debates about the social inclusion of migrants and minorities. This may reflect a tendency to situate cemeteries socially and geographically in the peripheries of contemporary European society, but they are, nonetheless, sites of vital public health infrastructure, as well as being highly significa nt symbolic, religious-spiritual, secular-sacred, and emotionally-laden places. Examining cemeteries-crematoria against a criteria of inclusive public space provides new insights into i) the nature of public space and its governance; ii) rights and barriers to shared public spaces and associated infrastructure in everyday multicultural contexts; iii) national-local negotiations of majority-minorities social relations and cultural practices in and through public spaces; and iv) the need to place municipal cemeteries-crematoria centre stage in scholarship and policy on public space which is culturally inclusive and serves all citizens.

Rules, Norms and Practices – A Comparative Study Exploring Disposal Practices and Facilities in Northern Europe

“…Other factors at play are cemetery and crematorium management, cultural norms, as well as the needs and wishes of the cemetery and crematoria garden user communities. In this discussion we focus on some of the main differences and show how they impact aspects of accessibility, inclusion and equality as three characteristics which are central to the governance of public services, including cemeteries and crematoria in democratic welfare-state societies ( Maddrell et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Across our case studies cemeteries and crematoria gardens can be regarded as public spaces where everyday encounters are made ( Francis et al, 2000 ; Grabalov & Nordh, 2021 ; Maddrell, Beebeejaun, et al, 2021 ; Maddrell, Beebeejaun, McClymont, Mathijssen, et al, 2018 ; Maddrell, Beebeejaun, McClymont, McNally, et al, 2018 ; Maddrell, McNally, et al, 2021 ; Swenson & Skår, 2018 ), which can result in conflict between different interests and practices, or community for example through spaces that gather people with joint needs or interests. The cemetery has been described as a liminal space in numerous ways, including as a “floating border between private-public spaces” ( Swensen & Brendalsmo, 2018 , p. 88): even if most are publicly accessible spaces, they provide ‘private’ burial plots that are bought or rented and are commonly treated more or less as “miniature home gardens” ( Kjærsgaard & Venbrux, 2016 ) where “memory objects … form a specific passage landscape between life and death” ( Maddrell et al, 2021 , p. 8). Moreover, what is permitted within these spaces in terms of behaviour, memorial, and burial practices is regulated nationally and/or locally and not least as normative “unwritten rules” in people’s minds ( Nordh et al, 2017 ).…”