Show Notes
What's the episode about? In this episode, get an overview of the 2025 Death, Dying and Disposal Conference held in Utrecht in the Netherlands
What was the conference about? The below information was taken from the conference website. 'Death is political and performs the political. This is evident not only in death itself, but also in the dead (who can become political actors), their bodies, the process of dying (which is, amongst others, infrastructurally related to political discourse and inequalities), and bereavement (which can also become apolitical act). The political aspects of this theme extend beyond national or international political institutions (such as governments, state actors, multinational corporations, or political or religious alliances) to encompass everybody and everything that has to do with (the exercise of) power andmoralities, e.g., families, kin, neighbourhoods, friendship networks.
Our time together at DDD17 – as a short, but hopefully (partly)lasting DDD17 community – has come to a close. Over these past days, we’ve explored, listened, debated, and imagined — and we want to thank you for bringing such openness and curiosity to the theme of the Politics of Death. This may be the end of the conference, but we hope it is only the beginning of conversations on this theme. Let’s continue them in whatever ways we can — in our research, our writing, our teaching, our work, our communities. We hope you are leaving as inspired as we are. Thanks to everybody who made this conference what is has been. A conference is made by its participants – together we were a fantastic community.'
How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists? To cite this episode, you can use the following citation:
Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. (2025) DDD17. The DeathStudies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. Published 1October 2025. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com,DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.30256387
What next? Check out more episodes or find out more about the hosts! Got a question? Get in touch.
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Who is Jane? Jane McCarthy is an English sociologist who has worked for many decades across various disciplines to focuson ‘family’, childhood, and relationality. In the last 25 years,since the death of her husband when their daughter was aged 5, she has built on this earlier work to explore death and its continuing aftermath in the everyday relational lives of the living, alongside ‘family troubles’ more broadly. She has approached these topics in terms of lived experiences, academic approaches, and professional practices and services. She has particularly offered a view of bereavement as a source of change, rather than the narrower view of ‘loss’, including in the lives of children experiencing a significant death in their lives. Her general approach to all these subjects is to set aside what may be considered ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’, ‘harmful’ or ‘beneficial’, and rather to focus on how disruptive change may be experienced in everyday relational lives, with multiple ramifications, and how people themselves make sense of these within the circumstances of their lives. Some of Jane’s work has involved research and collaborations in Senegal and China, but her primary experience is UK based, where she has particularly valued her involvement with the Community Voices network.
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