Abstract
This paper considers the relationship between consumption, identity and death
through an exploration of the UK cemetery industry and suggests that cemetery
users and the staff often negotiate multifarious – and possibly conflicting –
identities. Drawing on an ethnography of a large cemetery in London, the paper
examines the ways in which the purchasing of services provided by the cemetery
are negotiated by the user/client and the staff/provider, arguing that there are many
uncertainties for both as they navigate their consumer/broker identities. Caught up
in the requirement for the cemetery to be financially sustainable, staff are under
pressure to attract ‘business’, which can sometimes conflict with a personal desire
to empathise with the bereaved. At the same time, bereaved people purchasing
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services in the cemetery can be both vulnerable and savvy consumers – sometimes
simultaneously – needing/demanding kindness and understanding and/or value
for money and a high quality product. The paper argues that tension surrounding
the purchasing of services in the cemetery and uncertain identities as bereaved
consumers/business-related brokers reflects a widespread ambiguity surrounding
the relationship between money and bereavement and is indicative of a societal
uneasiness about a close relationship between commercialism and death overall.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - Sept 2009 |
Event | Ninth International Conference Social Context of Death, Dying and Disposal (DDD9) - University of Durham, Durham, UK United Kingdom Duration: 9 Sept 2009 → 12 Sept 2009 |
Conference
Conference | Ninth International Conference Social Context of Death, Dying and Disposal (DDD9) |
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Country/Territory | UK United Kingdom |
City | University of Durham, Durham |
Period | 9/09/09 → 12/09/09 |