Full Description
This book reviews the spectrum of death, from when the living person turns to corpse until the person lives in the memory of mourners, and its impact on the ecology of the socio-cultural community and physical environment.
This book demonstrates that American society today is in a pivotal period for re-imaging end-of-life care, funerary services, human disposition methods, memorializing, and mourning. The editors and contributors outline the past, present, and future of death care rituals, pointing to promising new practices and innovative projects that show how we can better integrate the dying and dead with the living and create positive change that supports sustainable stewardship of our environment. Individual chapters describe prevailing practices and issues in different settings where people die and in postmortem rituals; disposition and current ecologically and, in urban areas, spatially unsustainable methods; law of human remains; customs and trends among key stakeholders, such as cemeteries and funeral directors; and relevant technological advances. The book culminates in a presentation of emerging sustainable disposition technologies and innovative designs for proposed public memorial projects that respond to shifting values, beliefs, and priorities among an increasingly diverse population.
Contents
Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Christina Staudt and Karla Rothstein
Chapter 1 History and Background: How Our American Burial Traditions Emerged
Joseph W. Dauben
Chapter 2 Corpse Preservation and Final Disposition Methods: Impact on Urban Centers and the Environment
Caitlin Campbell and Karla Rothstein
Chapter 3 From Deathbed to Morgue: "Rebooting" the System
Christina Staudt
Chapter 4 Redirecting Funeral Rituals and Mourning Practices
Christina Staudt
Chapter 5 Modernizing the Law of Human Remains: Challenges and Opportunities
Tanya D. Marsh
Chapter 6 Nature versus Culture: Shifting Values in American Cemeteries
David Charles Sloane
Chapter 7 Rethinking the Role of the Funeral Director
Lee Webster
Chapter 8 Digital Tools: Grieving through Screens
Candi K. Cann
Chapter 9 A Covenant among Generations: Keeping Trust in the Republic and the Law
Bruce Jennings and Catherine M. Hammack-Aviran
Chapter 10 New Mortuary Technologies and Memorial Designs
Caitlin Campbell and Karla Rothstein
Onward
Karla Rothstein and Christina Staudt
Essential References
About the Editors and Contributors
Index
