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The Postmodernization of Death and Dying
Author(s) -
Simon William,
Haney C. Allen,
Buenteo Russell
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1525/si.1993.16.4.411
Subject(s) - abandonment (legal) , postmodernity , individuation , telos , narrative , politics , normalization (sociology) , sociology , social change , epistemology , environmental ethics , psychoanalysis , psychology , social science , modernity , political science , philosophy , law , linguistics
The very concept of postmodernity suggests a significant change in the conduct of contemporary social life. Five aspects of this change are described. They are: the normalization of persistent and diffuse change; the abandonment of the concept of nature as necessarily embodying lawful regularity; the death of telos, or the discrediting of the concept of a history as a master, purposeful narrative; adaptations to largely unanticipated levels of individuation; and potential changes in the politics of the self. Implications of these changes are explored by speculative consideration of their impacts on death and dying.