The British Sociological Association

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Social Aspects of Death, Dying and Bereavement (DDB) Study Group

Theme: Social Class, Death, Dying and Bereavement

Monday, 16 November 2009, 10.30am-4.30pm
ICOSS, University of Sheffield, UK - Map

To mark the new status of the Death, Dying and Bereavement Symposium as part of an independent British Sociological Association Study Group, the theme for this year's meeting reflects sociology's roots in the study of social class. Presentations will address death, dying and bereavement in terms of social class, either through ongoing research, already published studies or theoretical discussion.

The following questions have prompted us to select the theme of social class:

Has the concept of social class become too complex for use, or just plain irrelevant?*
Has Death Studies led us astray from core sociological questions?*
With an eye to reforming 'deathways', have we privileged middle class agendas?*

The conference will focus on:

The implications of poverty (e.g., during life-limiting illness; following the death of a 'breadwinner').
Power and conflict (violent death; death in war).
Cultures of consumption as markers of class identity (e.g., informal memorialisation; the consumption of memorial products; the distribution of effects after a death).
Working class cultures of death (around, for example, funeral practices, spiritualism, clairvoyance).
Middle class values and beliefs (e.g., as expressed in death 'reform').
The intersection of social class with other social divisions (e.g. ageing, gender, ethnicity).
Methodological questions (e.g., class and the interpretation of qualitative data; the transcription of 'non-standard' accents/dialects; reflexivity and differences/similarities of class between researcher and researched, for example as representatives of middle class institutions).

*Glennys Howarth addresses these questions in an article called 'Whatever happened to social class? An examination of the neglect of working class cultures in the sociology of death' (Health Sociology Review 16 (5): 425-435).

Symposium Fees

Early Bird Registration for the symposium closes on Monday, 19 October 2009.
Fees are £10 for Postgraduates, £15 BSA members, £20 for non-members.
Registrations after 19 October incur a £5 late booking fee.

Registration

Registration for this event is now closed. The programme and presentations will be available online after the event. If you would like to be added to the waiting list in case we receive any cancellations and to be contacted when the presentations become available online please send an email with your full name, telephone number, email address and postal address to events@britsoc.org.uk.

Visit the Social Aspects of Death, Dying and Bereavement Study Group homepage.

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