From Mortality 30(2), 355-376 (Open Access): Despite death and bereavement studies being dominated by scholars and empirical material from Europe and North America, death and bereavement studies have often assumed the universality of their knowledge claims. This article explores what innovative insights can be gained about death and its aftermath from contemporary research in African contexts - South Sudan, Senegal, and Uganda - with diverse histories of colonialism and contemporary experiences of marginalisation, as well as activism against political, economic and epistemic injustices. The authors illustrate how the process of decolonising death and knowledge about death has long, historical roots that can be traced back to acts of resistance during the colonial period, and question dominant post/neo-colonial development discourses that focus solely on the material impact of death as a 'household shock'.
Contemporary responses in Africa to the aftermath of death: developments and decolonising challenges
From Mortality 30(2), 355-376 (Open Access): Despite death and bereavement studies being dominated by scholars and empirical material from Europe and North America, death and bereavement studies have often assumed the universality of their knowledge claims. This article explores what innovative insights can be gained about death and its aftermath from contemporary research in African contexts - South Sudan, Senegal, and Uganda - with diverse histories of colonialism and contemporary experiences of marginalisation, as well as activism against political, economic and epistemic injustices. The authors illustrate how the process of decolonising death and knowledge about death has long, historical roots that can be traced back to acts of resistance during the colonial period, and question dominant post/neo-colonial development discourses that focus solely on the material impact of death as a 'household shock'.
Nannyonga-Tamusuza
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