Introduction

Sociological approaches have produced texts that have demonstrated the power of death as a central force in social life and social order. However, recent knowledge production in death, dying and bereavement has been dominated by research and theory from the ‘psy-disciplines’ (psychiatry, psychology etc.), which tend to be concerned with individualistic and medicalised discourse. This framing of death, dying and bereavement shapes our understandings, limits the knowledge that is possible and fails to fully acknowledge the social aspects of death. This must be rectified as the analysis of death, in all its forms and with all its consequences, cannot be fully comprehended with the individualistic approaches that are centred in other disciplines. This Introductory chapter outlines how the book seeks to explore the social context of death in the depth and breadth that it deserves. It provides an overview of the chapters contained in this edited collection, as they each provide sociological insights into where we are now and where we might be heading in the future, with regard to death-related practices.