The Changing Profile of Social Death

Mulkay, Michael; Ernst, John

doi:10.1017/s0003975600006214

Cited by 53 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…His facing difficulty in that regard not only exemplifies the agency of her clothes, but also relates to the social expectations in his environment. Due to his wife's illness, Charles explained, his mourning process had started before her biological death (Mulkay & Ernst, 1991;Sweeting & Gilhooly, 1997). Now, he 'want[s] to look forward.…”

Section: Wearing the Deadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transforming bonds: ritualising post-mortem relationships in the Netherlands

Mathijssen

2017

Mortality

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People continue relationships with their dead in a variety of ways. Since the 1990s, the idea of 'continuing bonds' has provided a framework for exploring and understanding post-mortem relationships. However, the dynamics of the bonds between the living and the dead have received little attention. By looking at the intersection of things, practices and spaces, this paper demonstrates that expressions of continuing bonds do not always point to continuity, and indeed can signify discontinuity. It explores the 'transforming bonds' between the recently bereaved and their deceased in the Netherlands, illustrating how post-mortem relationships change and how such changes affect the social location of the deceased and the bereaved. By attending to the ritual dynamics of separation, transition and integration, two aspects of the social and material relationships between the living and the dead are highlighted. First, attention is given to the ways wherein the bereaved relocate their deceased through material objects within and outside of their homes, enabling them to renegotiate the absence-presence of the deceased. Second, the paper illustrates that personalised incorporation practices are inevitably linked to negotiations and contestations in the social sphere, and the norms and values of the social environment.

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Section: Wearing the Deadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transforming bonds: ritualising post-mortem relationships in the Netherlands

Mathijssen

2017

Mortality

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“…In the summary of the case the coroner noted that 'he had not been seen alive for many years', but a more accurate rendering of the situation may be that Adam Jackson went out in order to supply his needs but in doing so was not noticed by other people; as Oliver expressed it, 'he just blended into the background'. This is suggestive, although by no means conclusive, of Adam Jackson deciding to withdraw from social contacts in the period preceding his biological death and thus entering a state of social death in which he impinged on the social life of no one else (Mulkay & Ernst, 1991). As an active agent it appears likely that Adam Jackson chose social death.…”

Section: Choosing Social Deathmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This latter group may include people with dementia, or people who appear frail and old; its constitution depends upon place, time and social context. In both these cases the individuals who are cast as socially dead cease to be active agents in the social lives of others and are treated by others as if they are of no consequence and already dead (Mulkay & Ernst, 1991).…”

Section: Social Deathmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are many people in these groups who continue to be socially significant in the lives of others. It is the case, however, that an individual may be cast as socially dead by some people and therefore not be considered as players in their social lives, but that same individual may feature prominently in the social plans and lives of others (Mulkay & Ernst, 1991). For example, an older person with dementia may be deemed of no social consequence by some members of their family and thus be socially dead to those family members, but they may simultaneously have an active 'social presence' amongst their peers (Hallam et al 1999, 45).…”

Section: Social Deathmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the immediate aftermath of a death bereaved individuals may continue to interact with the person who has died, holding their hand, talking to and reassuring them (Hallam et al 1999;Mulkay & Ernst, 1991). Such a social existence after biological death is not restricted to the period immediately after death, however, and for many who have been bereaved the deceased person remains an important part of their lives and everyday considerations.…”

Section: Social Deathmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agency in the context of social death: dying alone at home

Caswell

O’Connor

2015

Contemporary Social Science

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Each year a number of bodies are found of people who have died alone at home and whose absence from daily life has not been noticed. Media reports tend either to cast these individuals as deviant, or wider society as having abandoned them to a lonely death. This paper proposes an alternative view, one in which some individuals choose to withdraw from society and enter a period of social death prior to their biological deaths. They may then be subject to a renewed social life after death, brought about through post-death social processes. The paper begins by laying out the background to the pilot study on which it draws, before discussing some of the methodological and ethical issues involved in carrying out such research. A case study is then presented as a focus for a discussion of the possible role of agency and choice within the context of social death.

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