Ecological funerals. Anthropological analysis of a new relationship with the body, death and the environment

Thesis defense in anthropology by Manon MONCOQ.

For several years, the environmentalist injunction has affected all sectors of activity, and the funeral industry has not escaped it. In this context, numerous actions are being implemented, whether by the government through reflection on alternative modes of burial, by local authorities via the creation of natural cemeteries, or by funeral professionals offering families cardboard coffins, biodegradable urns or cotton cushioning. These developments seem to illustrate a gradual change in the relationship between the living and the dead.

The space dedicated to the dead is changing and tending to become more in line with that of the living. Families are moving towards environmentally-friendly funerals, often with a view to a return to nature and a renewed conception of the dead body, sometimes seen as a "possession" to be offered to nature. This leads us to question the recent redefinition of the value of human remains.

This research is part of an anthropology that crosses different fields: contemporary funerary practices, representations of death, relationship to the environment, economics, politics, techniques, beliefs and the place of the body in society. It is based in particular on the analysis of the discourses of families and funeral professionals in order to understand how ecological funerals can influence, beyond the relationship to death and the dead, social organization more broadly.

Manon MONCOQ is a member of the Platform directory.

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