Funerary Practices in the Netherlands

Brenda Mathijssen
University of Groningen, The Netherlands

Claudia Venhorst
Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands


Product Details
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9781787698765
Published:
Publisher:
Emerald Publishing Limited
Dimensions:
273 pages - 129 x 198mm
Series:
Funerary International
List price £45.99 List price €51.99 List price $61.99

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In contextualizing the Dutch funerary practice in its wider legal, national and local governance framework, this book describes the historical context for current practices, provides data on trends in burial and cremation, and examines recent developments including natural burial, increasing religious diversity and changing national legislation. 

Chapters provide an overview of funerary history and contemporary practice, alongside photographs, charts and tables of key information. Topics explored include: the death care industry; the Corpse Disposal Act; a typical funeral including funeral costs and insurance; cemetery and crematorium provision; and, the practices, technicalities and legalities of burial and cremation. The book also analyses and illustrates the commemorative practice of public mourning events related to World War II, the Holocaust and the MH17 plane crash. 

This book provides a broad frame of reference on funeral practices, making it a useful resource for academics, policy makers and practitioners interested in the historic, legal, technical and professional aspects of the funerary industry.

Chapter 1. The Netherlands: An Introduction 
Chapter 2. History 
Chapter 3. Demographic and legal frameworks 
Chapter 4. The funeral directing industry 
Chapter 5. Paying for funerals 
Chapter 6. A typical funeral 
Chapter 7. Burial and Cemeteries 
Chapter 8. Cremation and Crematoria 
Chapter 9. Death and Remembrance in the Public Sphere
Brenda Mathijssen is Assistant Professor of Psychology, Culture and Religion at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. She is the author of Making Sense of Death: Ritual Practices and Situational Beliefs of the Recently Bereaved in the Netherlands (2017) and Dood: Wegwijs in de Nederlandse Uitvaartcultuur (2017). 
Claudia Venhorst is a religious studies scholar and photographer at the Centre for Thanatology at Radboud University, the Netherlands. She is author of Muslims Ritualising Death in the Netherlands: Death Rites in a Small Town Context (2014) and Dood: Wegwijs in de Nederlandse Uitvaartcultuur (2017).

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