Social death occurs when the social existence of a person or group ceases. With an individual, it can occur before or after physical death. Scholars in a wide range of disciplines have applied the concept to very diverse issues - including genocide, slavery, dementia, hospitalisation, and bereavement. Social death relates to social exclusion, social capital, social networks, social roles and social identity, but its theorising is not united - scholars in one field are often unaware of its use in other fields. This is the first book to bring a range of perspectives together in a pioneering effort to bring to the field conceptual clarity rooted in empirical data. Preceded by an original theoretical discussion of the concept of social death, contributions from the UK, Romania, Sweden, and Israel analyse the fourth age, end of life policies, dying alone at home, suicide, photographs on gravestones, bereavement, and the agency of dead musicians. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Social Science.

Talking about death is now fashionable, but how should we talk? Who should we listen to - priests, doctors, cousellors, or ourselves? Has psychology replaced religion in telling us how to die? This provocative book takes a sociological look at the revival of interest in death, focusing on the hospice movement and bereavement counselling. It will be required reading for anyone interested in the sociology of death and caring for the dying, the dead or bereaved.

Frequent assertions that death is taboo can be seen as evidence of a revival of interest in dying and bereavement. Traditional religious discourse lacks plausibility, yet modern medical and bureaucratic discourse fails to tally with the personal experience of many dying and bereaved individuals. The current revival, while reinstating some traditional practices and retaining professional expertise, seeks ultimate authority elsewhere: in the individual self. The new death is personal, facilitated by palliative care, the life-centred funeral, and bereavement counselling. How though are we to know how to die and to grieve? What role do professional carers and psychological theories play in shaping the experiences of dying and bereaved persons? How do such persons learn from each other? This book examines the revival and relates it to theories of modernity and postmodernity. Tony Walter edited "Pilgrimage in Popular Culture" (Macmillan, 1993) and is the author of "Funerals and How to Improve Them" (Hodder, 1990).

The unexpected death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in Paris on August 31st 1997 led to a period of mourning over the next week that took the world by surprise. Major institutions - the media, the royal family, the church, the police - for once had no pre-planned script. For the public, this was a story with an ending they had not anticipated. How did these institutions and the public create a cultural order in the face of such disorder? Both those involved in the mourning and those who objected to it struggled to understand the depth and breadth of emotion shaking Britain and the world.
Mourning was focused on London, where Diana's body lay, and on Diana's home, Kensington Palace. Throughout the city and especially in Kensington Gardens, millions left shrines to the dead princess made of flowers, messages, teddy bears and other objects. In towns and villages around the UK, this was repeated. The mourning was also global, with media dominated by Diana's death in scores of countries. The funeral itself had a record-breaking world television audience, and messages of condolence floated around the globe in cyber-space.
How unique was all this? Does it mark a shift in the culture of mourning, of the position of the monarchy, of the role of emotion in British culture? How does it compare with the mourning for other super-icons - JFK, Evita, Elvis, and Monroe? Was it media-induced hysteria? Or was it simply a magnification of normal mourning behaviour? Focusing on the extraordinary actions of millions of ordinary people, this book documents what happened and shows how a modern rational society coped with the unexpected in a proto-revolutionary week that left participants and objectors alike asking 'why did we behave like this?

The unexpected death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in Paris on August 31st 1997 led to a period of mourning over the next week that took the world by surprise. Major institutions - the media, the royal family, the church, the police - for once had no pre-planned script. For the public, this was a story with an ending they had not anticipated. How did these institutions and the public create a cultural order in the face of such disorder? Both those involved in the mourning and those who objected to it struggled to understand the depth and breadth of emotion shaking Britain and the world.
Mourning was focused on London, where Diana's body lay, and on Diana's home, Kensington Palace. Throughout the city and especially in Kensington Gardens, millions left shrines to the dead princess made of flowers, messages, teddy bears and other objects. In towns and villages around the UK, this was repeated. The mourning was also global, with media dominated by Diana's death in scores of countries. The funeral itself had a record-breaking world television audience, and messages of condolence floated around the globe in cyber-space.
How unique was all this? Does it mark a shift in the culture of mourning, of the position of the monarchy, of the role of emotion in British culture? How does it compare with the mourning for other super-icons - JFK, Evita, Elvis, and Monroe? Was it media-induced hysteria? Or was it simply a magnification of normal mourning behaviour? Focusing on the extraordinary actions of millions of ordinary people, this book documents what happened and shows how a modern rational society coped with the unexpected in a proto-revolutionary week that left participants and objectorsalike asking 'why did we behave like this?

The charismatic movement has a high profile in contemporary Christianity. The book's contributors include insiders and outsiders, charismatics and sociologists; with Britain as their focus, they trace the movement's international connections, historical development and variety. The book provides a wealth of information and analysis which will interest both those within the movement and students of religion wanting to know more about it.

The charismatic movement has a high profile in contemporary Christianity. The book's contributors include insiders and outsiders, charismatics and sociologists; with Britain as their focus, they trace the movement's international connections, historical development and variety. The book provides a wealth of information and analysis which will interest both those within the movement and students of religion wanting to know more about it.

Specially commissioned studies of popular pilgrimages - East and West, past and present, religious and 'secular - ranging from Shikoku (Japan), to Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Kosovo (Yugoslavia), Glastonbury, Anfield (UK), Flanders fields, Graceland and military pilgrimages in the USA. The book asks in what ways all these can be called pilgrimages and what their relation is to tourism and to entertainment, highlighting the enduring popularity not only of pilgrimage but also of saints and heroes.

Specially commissioned studies of popular pilgrimages - East and West, past and present, religious and secular - ranging from Shikoku (Japan) to Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Kosovo (Yugoslavia), Glastonbury, Anfield (UK), Flanders Fields, Graceland, and military pilgrimages in the USA). The book asks in what ways all these can be called pilgrimages and what their relations is to tourism and to entertainment, highlighting the enduring popularity not only of pilgrimage, but also of saints of heroes.

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.

Social death occurs when the social existence of a person or group ceases. With an individual, it can occur before or after physical death. Scholars in a wide range of disciplines have applied the concept to very diverse issues - including genocide, slavery, dementia, hospitalisation, and bereavement. Social death relates to social exclusion, social capital, social networks, social roles and social identity, but its theorising is not united - scholars in one field are often unaware of its use in other fields. This is the first book to bring a range of perspectives together in a pioneering effort to bring to the field conceptual clarity rooted in empirical data. Preceded by an original theoretical discussion of the concept of social death, contributions from the UK, Romania, Sweden, and Israel analyse the fourth age, end of life policies, dying alone at home, suicide, photographs on gravestones, bereavement, and the agency of dead musicians. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Social Science.

Though death is universal, how we respond to it depends on when and where we live. Dying and grieving continually evolve: new preparations for dying, new kinds of funerals, new ways of handling grief and new ways to memorialise are developing all the time. Bringing 25 years of research and teaching in the sociology of death and dying to this important book, Tony Walter engages critically with key questions such as: should we talk about death more and plan in advance? How effective is this as more people suffer frailty and dementia? How do physical migration and digital connection affect place-bound deathbeds, funerals and graves? Is the traditional funeral still relevant? Can burial and cremation be ecological? And how should we grieve: quietly, openly, or online?

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.

'Insightful and refreshing.' - Professor Dennis Klass, Webster University Religion Department, St. Louis, USA
'A tour de force.' - Dr Colin Murray Parkes, OBE, MD, FRCPsych, President of CRUSE
Some societies and some individuals find a place for their dead, others leave them behind. In recent years, researchers, professionals and bereaved people themselves have struggled with this. Should the bond with the dead be continued or broken? What is clear is that the grieving individual is not left in a social vacuum but has to struggle with expectations from self, family, friends, professionals and academic theorists.
This ground-breaking book looks at the social position of the bereaved. They find themselves caught between the living and the dead, sometimes searching for guidelines in a de-ritualized society that has few to offer, sometimes finding their grief inappropriately pathologised and policed. At its best, bereavement care offers reassurance, validation, and freedom to talk where the client has previously encountered judgmentalism.
In this unique book, Tony Walter applies sociological insights to one of the most personal of human situations. On Bereavement is aimed at students on medical, nursing, counselling and social work courses that include bereavement as a topic. It will also appeal to sociology students with an interest in death, dying and mortality.

A circumnavigation in a Salar 40. Tony and Audrey Walter are like thousands of other amateur sailing couples, just ordinary people living a normal life but one of them had a dream. The book is an illuminating and compassionately written account of their voyage round the world in a Salar 40. Each chapter includes an account of both Audrey and Tony's own individual thoughts and observations. They visited many countries and various idyllic and exotic islands that most people only dream about. Their portrayal of this conjures up images of the varied lives people lead, from paradise to absolute hell. They experience numerous gales including a force ten off the Great Barrier Reef and many gear breakages while on passage hundreds of miles from land. Their sometimes unusual and resourceful methods of remedying the various situations are well documented throughout. An encounter with armed pirates off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Adren and how they escaped more serious consequences is also a terrifying yet enlightening tale. It was initially Tony's dream to sail around the world but it soon became a challenge for them both. This is the true story of how they achieved it.

Tony and Audrey Walter are like thousands of other amateur sailing couples, just ordinary people living a normal life but one of them had a dream. The book is an illuminating and compassionately written account of their voyage round the world in a Salar 40. Each chapter includes an account of both Audrey and Tony's own individual thoughts and observations. They visited many countries and various idyllic and exotic islands that most people only dream about. Their portrayal of this conjures up images of the varied lives people lead, from paradise to absolute hell. They experienced numerous gales including a force ten off the Great Barrier Reef and many gear breakages while on passage hundreds of miles from land. Their sometimes unusual and resourceful methods of remedying the various situations are well documented throughout. An encounter with armed pirates off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden and how they escaped more serious consequences is also a terrifying yet enlightening tale. It was initially Tony's dream to sail around the world but it soon became a challenge for them both. This is the true story of how they achieved it.