Overview

Establishing a new set of international perspectives from around the world on experiences of death, disposition and remembrance in urban environments, this book brings deathscapes – material, embodied and emotional places associated with dying and death – to life. It pushes the boundaries of established empirical and conceptual understandings of death in urban spaces through anthropological, geographical and ethnographic insights. Chapters reveal how urban deathscapes are experienced, used, managed and described in specific locales in varied settings; how their norms and values intersect and at times conflict with the norms of dominant and assumed practices; and how they are influenced by the dynamic practices, politics and demographics typical of urban spaces. Case studies from across Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America highlight the differences between deathscapes, but also show their clear commonality in being as much a part of the world of the living as they are of the dead. With a people- and space-centred approach, this book will be an interesting read for human geography, death studies and urban studies scholars, as well as social and cultural anthropologists and sociologists. Its international and interdisciplinary nature will also make this a beneficial book for planning and landscape architecture, religious studies and courses on death practices.

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9781802202380

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Reviews

‘This volume challenges us to rethink the diversity of deathscapes – not just cemeteries and columbaria but also retirement homes, hospitals, museums and Facebook pages. Through the fraught terrain of death, the window on life is turned upside-down, giving us a ground-up view of contestations across social-political, familial and technological spheres.’ -- Brenda Yeoh, National University of Singapore ‘Focussing on the urban areas where most humans now live and where conflict, insecurity, migration and violence can characterise death as well as life, this fascinating, disturbing yet hopeful book re-sets the agenda for research into deathscapes.’ -- Tony Walter, University of Bath, UK

'This volume challenges us to rethink the diversity of deathscapes - not just cemeteries and columbaria but also retirement homes, hospitals, museums and Facebook pages. Through the fraught terrain of death, the window on life is turned upside-down, giving us a ground-up view of contestations across social-political, familial and technological spheres.' -- Brenda Yeoh, National University of Singapore 'Focussing on the urban areas where most humans now live and where conflict, insecurity, migration and violence can characterise death as well as life, this fascinating, disturbing yet hopeful book re-sets the agenda for research into deathscapes.' -- Tony Walter, University of Bath, UK

Author Information

Edited by Danielle House, Senior Research Associate, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, UK and Mariske Westendorp, Assistant Professor, Department of Cultural Anthropology, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands with Avril Maddrell, School of Archaeology, Geography, and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, UK

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