Death in a Consumer Culture

Reviews / Votes

'This book haunts us with more and more about how people live with death. In modern life there are these endless questions that are explored here. Issues of anticipation, of bereavement, or handling of the dead body, of living with its irrevocable fact of mortality. As we ponder what happens before, during, and after death; this book helps us to do that in a rich, highly detailed way.' - Sidney J. Levy, Professor, University of Arizona, USA

'Death isn't what it used to be. The immortality sought by transhumanists may not be new, but their technologies are. Latter day Cartesians may newly attempt to separate mind and body, but issues regarding the former vessel, grief, and memorialization of the spirit remain. Internet immortality, environmentalism, and modern medicine also alter the concerns and possibilities. This important volume pits everlasting questions against new techniques for treating and understanding death.' - Russell Belk, Professor, York University, Canada

'Death comes brilliantly to life in this volume of insightful research. From dark tourism, online memorials, and coffin erotica to eco-funerals, celebrity deaths, corpse carnivalism, and more, Dobscha's "Death in a Consumer Culture" provides a startling and valuable new view about how our culture of markets, media, and money interrelates with the reality and the long shadow of death.' - Robert Kozinets, Professor, York University, Canada

'This lively book provides stimulating new perspectives on death, and should generate productive thinking about how death and dying are central parts of the marketplace. The international cast of contributors offers both practical and theoretical insights into a spirited range of death-related topics that creatively reframes death as a consumer and market practice.' - Jonathan Schroeder, William A. Kern Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, USA

"Overall, I would conclude that this book will not only be of relevance to those with a contextual curiosity about death research but also to researchers interested in a range of theoretical perspectives including consumer vulnerability, family consumption and transformative services research, to name but a few." - Kathy Hamilton, Consumption Markets & Culture Journal, 2016

"The varying methodological approaches, across an array of contexts, are very useful examples for the death scholar as they can be transferred to further studies. Overall, Dobscha's objective to bring together a collection of works which address the rich subject of death in a consumer culture is successfully achieved. Dobscha fulfils her task in presenting death as a necessary topic of inquiry within the field of marketing and consumer research." - Zivarna Murphy, Hull York Medical School, UK