Black death and mourning as pandemic

Black bodies have been the site of devastation for centuries. We who inhabit and love these bodies live in a state of perpetual mourning. We mourn the disproportionate dying in our families, communities and the dying in the black diaspora. We are yet to come to terms with the death that accompanied the AIDS pandemic. Tuberculosis breeds in the conditions within which most of us live. We die from hours spent in the belly of the earth where we dig for minerals to feed the unquenchable thirst of capital. Malaria targets our neighbors with deathly accuracy. Ebola stalks west Africa where it has established itself as a rapacious black disease. It kills us. In the black diaspora, African Americans are walking targets for American police who kill and imprison them at rates that have created a prison industrial complex. Africans die in the Mediterranean ocean and join the spirits of ancestors drowned centuries ago. With South Africa as the point of departure, this paper stages a transcontinental examination of black death. It is animated by the following questions. What are the dimensions of black death, what is its scale and how is it mourned? What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for we who are so intimately familiar with death? (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Articulations of 'Funeral' in Swedish Newspapers During the Covid-19 Pandemic.

This article explores how 'funeral' was articulated in Swedish newspapers during the Covid-19 pandemic and how such articulations relate to power and ideology. Articles from the six most prominent Swedish newspapers, published over 2 years, have been analyzed using critical discourse analysis and intersectionality. The study reveals three funeral discourses dominating during different periods of the pandemic: 'Funeral as a risk,' 'Funeral as an essential ritual,' and 'Funeral as a profession.' Altogether, the three discourses expose an ideal of 'the responsible mourner.' This rational woman follows the funeral restrictions and arranges a church funeral shortly after the death of a relative. The 'good funeral' is portrayed as a church funeral with physically present mourners, performed according to the deceased's will and in honor of the dead. The 'bad funeral,' described as the opposite of the 'good funeral,' dominates the understanding of the pandemic funeral situation.

Pandemic funerals in Norway Hartmut Rosa's resonance as a sensitizing concept

During the Covid-19 pandemic, funerals have been conducted consistently in Norway, but, of course, the ceremonies were subject to rules and regulations, while digitization was on the increase. Against the background of already ongoing discussions, both in contexts related to the Church of Norway and in practical -theological discourses, this article analyses scenes and excerpts from interviews conducted in 2021 and asks: What does the sociologist Hartmut Rosa's concept of resonance convey in the pandemic situation? - This concept aims at a mode of relating that empowers fulfilling, resonant relationships between subjects and between subject and world;the aim here is to bring it into play as a sensitizing concept, in a situation of supposedly increased distance and unaffectedness between people. The article discusses where the concept conveys the need for stable frameworks, and where it conveys the need for ongoing work with an ecclesiastical-theological self-understanding in the field of church funerals.

Hybrid funerals: how online attendance facilitates and impedes participation

Livestreaming and filming death rites and funeral ceremonies to enable remote engagement proliferated rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many expect these options to remain prevalent going forward. This paper draws on interviews with a diverse UK sample of 68 bereaved people, funeral directors, officiants and celebrants. It illustrates how, and explains why, people's experiences and evaluations of hybrid funerals can vary. In a context when in-person gatherings were limited, hybridisation played a valuable role in enabling more people to engage with funerals. However, virtual attendance was often considered less satisfying than in-person attendance because it did not enable people to participate well in the funeral activities that mattered to them or to participate with others as they would in person. Scope for participation was partly contingent on the functionality and use made of technology, including whether and which steps were taken to facilitate engagement and a sense of connection for those joining online. People's evaluations of hybrid funerals could also reflect their relationships to the deceased and their frames of reference–for example, whether they were comparing virtual attendance to attending in person, or to being unable to attend at all, or to an overwhelmingly large funeral. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

'My memories of the time we had together are more important': Direct cremation and the privatisation of UK funerals

Funerals have long been of interest to social scientists. Previous sociological work has examined the relationship between individuality, belief and tradition within funeral services, founded on the assumption that public rituals have psycho-social benefit for organisers and attendees. With the introduction of direct cremation to the UK, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on funeral service attendance in 2020 and 2021, critique of this assumption is now needed. Drawing on interviews with recently bereaved people who organised a direct cremation in late 2017, this article illustrates how compromise, control and consistency are key drivers for not having a funeral service. The article argues that a declining importance in the fate of the body and a move towards 'invite-only' commemorative events represents a waning need for social support offered by a public, communal funeral service. In turn, this indicates a sequestration, or privatisation, of the contemporary funeral. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Revisiting funeral recordings during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK

Especially when travel and gatherings were restricted during the Covid-19 pandemic, filming and live-streaming enabled more people to connect with funerals than could attend in person. Filming has also created another less well considered possibility: of revisiting a funeral via a recording. This Viewpoint outlines a range of experiences and opinions about this practice. We suggest careful attention is needed to both its development and its implications for bereavement care in diverse circumstances. © 2023, Cruse Bereavement Care. All rights reserved.

Pandemic-induced deathscapes: end-of-life, funerary and bereavement challenges for British-Bangladeshi Muslims

Following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK, end-of-life rituals and funerals across groups of all faiths and none took on a new character due to government-imposed measures to control disease transmission. This article aims to explore the challenges faced by British-Bangladeshi Muslims in relation to performing end-of-life, funeral, and mourning rituals during the first pandemic wave, underpinned by the perception of a ‘good death'. This group was among those disproportionately affected by Covid-19-related mortality and morbidity. Contextualising the study within a review of the literature on deathscapes and shifting policy responses to multicultural populations in the UK, and using an in-depth qualitative research approach, the article highlights the ways in which pre-existing challenges facing individuals seeking Islamic end-of-life, funeral and bereavement rituals have been exacerbated by Covid-19. The article offers new empirical and conceptual insights into the spatio-temporal dimension of end-of-life and funerary practices performed by British-Bangladeshi Muslims to achieve a good death and the changing nature of embodied and virtual deathscapes triggered by the pandemic.

Changing Funerals and Their Effects on Bereavement Grief in Japan.

Bereavement is an extremely personal feeling, but Japanese society tends to disapprove of displays of negative personal emotion or weakness. For ages, mourning rituals like funerals provided an exception where social permission was given to sharing grief and seeking support. However, the form and significance of Japanese funerals have changed rapidly over the past generation, and especially since the advent of COVID-19 restrictions on assembly and travel. This paper overviews the trajectory of changes and continuities in mourning rituals in Japan, looking at their psychological and social impacts. It goes on to summarize recent Japanese research showing that appropriate funerals are not merely of psychological and social benefit, but may have an important role in reducing or supporting grief that might otherwise require medical and social work intervention.

Death, Funerals and Mourning on the Croatian Islands During the COVID-19 Pandemic

On islands and in island communities, especially smaller and more isolated ones, epidemics were often of greater intensity and left more significant consequences than on the mainland. The unique characteristics of an island (size, remoteness, isolation, small population size, and several manageable access points) affect the transmission of mainland epidemics and their frequency. The current global COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to investigate how the infection and epidemiological measures affected the life and death of island communities. The pandemic has brought mass death into our daily lives and altered the way people grieve, commemorate and remember their deceased. This paper presents the experiences and feelings of people during the COVID-19 pandemic on Croatian islands, with a focus on death, funer-als, mourning, and the loss of family members. Due to the impossibility of carrying out the usual practices related to the funeral because of COVID-19 restrictions, the process of mourning and dealing with the loss of loved ones was difficult. Island communities accepted the new rules and adapted to the new circumstances but indicated that island-specific and more flexible crisis management should be applied during this health crisis. Some epidemiological measures, such as social distancing, internal island travel restrictions, and reduced gatherings, were highlighted by islanders as challeng-ing and sometimes unnecessarily strict for some islands and their specific situations. For family members of those who died from COVID-19, additional factors and challenges have complicated their loss. Digital and social media were used to connect people and helped in coping with mourning in solitude and isolation. In this global pandemic, island communities responded to the impact of pandemic crises and adapted to new circumstances of the "new normal”. © 2022, Croatian Anthropological Society. All rights reserved.

ESPACIO, PODER, ESTÉTICA RITUAL Y AGENCIA POSTMORTUORIA: EL FUNERAL DE ESTADO DE DIEGO MARADONA

El artículo analiza las formas en que se despliega el poder, el uso del espacio y la estética en el funeral de estado de Diego Maradona. Se argumenta que tanto el Estado como los asistentes, a pesar de tomar como materia prima símbolos análogos, poseen sus propios y distintivos modos de simbolizar el ritual. Donde un análisis raudo puede homologar las nociones sobre el fútbol, el espacio y la nación que se desarrollan en el funeral, este trabajo, que combina las herramientas metodológicas brindadas por la etnografía, la netnografía y la utilización de diversas fuentes, muestra distintivos procesos de creatividad cultural en torno a las exequias del futbolista.Alternate :This paper analyses how power, use of space and aesthetics are displayed in Diego Maradona's state funeral. The argument is that, in spite of taking the same symbols as raw materials, both the State and the assistants have their own and distinctive ways of symbolizing the ritual. A quick analysis might equate the conceptions of football, space and nation developed during the funeral. However, this paper, that combines methodological tools from ethnography, netnography and the use of several sources, shows distinctive processes of cultural creativity surrounding the football player's funeral.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Disability Fund in Poland

This study addresses, for the first time, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operation of the disability fund in Poland. The study considers the impact of deaths on the number of survivor pensions and funeral allowance paid. We selected benefits which are a direct consequence of the death of the insured person and do not involve a medical assessment or subsequent steps in the insurance procedure, which allowed for a novel result, avoiding the time-gap problem. Data of four years were included in the study: 2018 and 2019 as pre-pandemic years and 2020 and 2021 as pandemic years. The research presented in this article (unexpectedly) indicates that there is no impact of the increased number of deaths on the increase in the number of survivor pensions and therefore there is no negative impact of the COVID-19 implications on the disability fund. The relationship between the total number of deaths and the number of funeral allowances is characterized by a high correlation with a positive direction.

'I'll Never Be Your Beast of Burden': Physician Burnout and Moral Injury

[...]on Saturday afternoon, a troubleshooter from the help desk at Genesis Systems called me on my cell phone. Because of this error, my help desk friend was unable to complete the program, and so, after 3 days and rising tensions, it was referred to someone at the state level, who sent me an automatic reply that he was unavailable. First used to describe veterans returning from the Vietnam War, moral injury has been extended to the health care field to help further explain and refine causes of burnout.2 Burnout suggests individual deficit.

Beethoven Exhibition at the British Library

Of particular note was a leaf of Beethoven's transcriptions from the poetry of Herder alongside his own personal reflections on the power of nature, written first in pencil – apparently outdoors – before being inked over (Zweig MS 15). Visitors could place their elbows on a wooden panel and clasp their hands over their ears, allowing the vibrations created by the music to be conveyed from the panel via bones in the elbow and upper arm to the inner ear, thus bypassing the ear canal. Franz Xaver Stöber's engraving of Beethoven's funeral procession provided a striking visual representation of the unprecedented scale of and public interest in the event.

Hard Lessons Learned and How to Move Forward as COVID-19 Persists

In this Spring 2022 issue of Generations Journal, authors reflect on the pain and the suffering, especially for older adults, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and policy makers' response. Articles provide personal accounts of patients with COVID-19 and the impact on direct caretakers and care workers, long-term care facilities, community-based services, on vaccine rollouts and the political determinants of health. Kane Williams is Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer for AARP, and, as she said, "hyper-focused on the needs of communities of color as the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated the disparities that exist and the work that needs to be done."

Care in the United States: Our Moment of Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic happened in the exact manner the need for caregiving often happens--suddenly and overnight. Caregiving families were not surprised by the immense challenges of managing care during the pandemic. If anything, they had been trying to sound the alarm for everyone else. This is how i's going to happen if our country doesn't put a care infrastructure into place. You will be left to your own devices and resources to figure things out. Some families will succeed in meeting their loved one's needs, but without a care infrastructure, many families will fail, and some will crumble. The pandemic didn't so much expose the challenges of caregiving, as it blew the lid off of a national secret: Caregiving as an individual is a nearly impossible task and it should be a collective responsibility. Here, Kalipeni shares her personal and professional caregiving journey.

The limits of bodies: Gatherings and the problem of collective presence

Modern social collectivities-such as nations, publics, and political movements-depend upon the capacity of media technologies to transcend bodily proximity. The contemporary proliferation of such remote sociality may seem to render physical gatherings superfluous. But at times, people go to great pains to manifest collectivities by assembling bodies in one place. This article explores what we should make of cases in which it is not enough for collectivities to be projected, ed, imagined, or invoked-times when bodies together are all that will do. Presenting research from India and Laos, and in dialogue with reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic, we consider those cases in which bodies are thought to be essential for making collectivities. We show that it is the limits and weaknesses of bodies-that they require sleep and food, that they are vulnerable to police batons and thrown stones, that they can usually only be in one place at a time-that often make them potent materials for building mass actors. Sketching a comparative anthropology of gathering, we reflect on what these limits afford and rethink what bodies might mean for future modes of social connection.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Funerals: Experiences of Participants in the 2020 Dying2Learn Massive Open Online Course.

A Massive-Open-Online-Course (MOOC) on death and dying (Dying2Learn) was offered in 2020, designed to build conversations about death as a natural part of life. In week 1, the content focused on how today's society engages with death through the language we use, humour, public mourning and funerals. This study investigated 2020 MOOC participants' responses to an online activity reflecting on funerals and memorials during the time of COVID-19. From this activity, n = 204 responses were analysed qualitatively. Themes included the positives and negatives of virtual funeral attendance (e.g. opportunity to have a way to participate when travel barriers existed, versus a sense of impersonal voyeurism); and the challenges related to the inability to physically comfort the bereaved due to physical distancing requirements. Comments made as part of this MOOC activity provide a unique insight into the community's experience of funeral changes necessitated by COVID-19, with important implications for the grieving process.

Proposal of an Initial Environmental Management and Land Use for Critical Cemeteries in Central Ecuador

Cemeteries are sites for the final disposal of human bodies that constitute a source of contamination of soil and water as a result of the cadaveric decomposition generated. The current research performed an initial study on the contamination of soil and water due to the influence of cemeteries and verified compliance with the legislation regulating land use and occupation of Central Ecuador (PUGS) with the aim of proposing an environmental and territorial solution to the problems generated by the mismanagement of cemeteries, through the physicochemical analysis of soil and water and studies of land use compatibility. The results indicate the tendency of contamination caused by the studied cemeteries, since the samples taken in both the rainy and dry season for the measurement of parameters BOD5, COD, DO, pH and electrical conductivity fail to meet the established requirements of the Ecuadorian and international environmental regulations. In addition, land use conflicts were encountered in the cemetery grounds. It is concluded that the existing cemeteries should be subjected to more detailed environmental analysis and subsequently should be treated as security landfills in the closure and post-closure stage. Also, it has been concluded that the cemeteries should not be located in urban or peri-urban areas.

Hamlet 2021's Outrageous Fortune

Load shedding (power cuts) in our corner of Pretoria coincided with the performance, so the laptop had to run on its own steam while internet access was channelled through a smartphone hotspot (the signal of which had proved unstable in the past but on this occasion held up bravely). Plans for Hamlet at The Fugard were then already under way;the play text became a frequent point of reference during the workshop sessions, and the three-day event closed with a roundtable discussion on the Fugards proposed production. In the blurb beneath the video link, Coppen paid homage to the support that the project received from Fugard Artistic Director Greg Karvellas and his team, as well as to the theatre's founder and benefactor, Eric Abraham. The online experience is defined by the physical separation of audience members and actors: the performance takes place in a makeshift, inbetween virtual world of its own.