Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Death
- Cambridge Handbooks in Anthropology
- The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Death
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Everyday Dying and Deathwork
- Introduction to Part I
- 1 The Work of Cleaning Up Lonely Death in Japan
- 2 Nursing Homes and the Lessons of COVID-19
- 3 The Circle
- 4 Deathcare Workers and Ritual Change in Urban China
- 5 Mastering Dying
- 6 The Rise of the African American Undertaker and Funeral Directress in Baltimore, 1872–1920
- 7 Of Ancestors and Mourning Gowns
- Part II Materiality and the Corpse
- Part III Life from Death
- Part IV Necropolitics
- Part V Beyond Death
- Index
- References
5 - Mastering Dying
Understanding End-of-Life Care as a Cultural Practice through Policy
from Part I - Everyday Dying and Deathwork
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 July 2026
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Death
- Cambridge Handbooks in Anthropology
- The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Death
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Everyday Dying and Deathwork
- Introduction to Part I
- 1 The Work of Cleaning Up Lonely Death in Japan
- 2 Nursing Homes and the Lessons of COVID-19
- 3 The Circle
- 4 Deathcare Workers and Ritual Change in Urban China
- 5 Mastering Dying
- 6 The Rise of the African American Undertaker and Funeral Directress in Baltimore, 1872–1920
- 7 Of Ancestors and Mourning Gowns
- Part II Materiality and the Corpse
- Part III Life from Death
- Part IV Necropolitics
- Part V Beyond Death
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter examines how death and dying are perceived to be knowable and manageable through end-of-life care. Leveraging extensive ethnographic research about English palliative and end-of-life care since 2010, the author scrutinizes how policies shape perceptions and practices surrounding the care of the dying. This includes discussions on how the end of life is understood within policy, influenced by palliative care philosophy and practice, and how this influences experiences and expectations of death and dying. Through detailed descriptions, the chapter highlights the impact this has on perceptions about when dying is recognized, the centering of needs-based approaches to care, and the cultural values evident in how “good” dying and death are discussed and idealized. Contrasting policy assumptions with lived experiences, the author invites an analysis of the limits of palliative and end-of-life care as frameworks for understanding dying and death. Ultimately, the chapter emphasizes the necessity for nuanced approaches to end-of-life care, portraying dying and death as not only inescapable facets of life but also deeply entrenched in social and cultural contexts that warrant consideration.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Death , pp. 99 - 116Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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