Attitudes towards death are shaped by our social worlds. This book explores how beliefs, practices and representations of dying and death continue to evolve and adapt in response to changing global societies. Introducing students to debates around grief, religion and life expectancy, this is a clear guide to a complex field for all sociologists.

Introduction: Death is Integral to Life
Perspectives and Theories on Death and Dying
The Social Organisation of Dying and Death: A New Paradigm Emerges
Patterns in Life and Death: Shifting Demographic Trends Re
Shape Life Expectancies
The Death Industries: Bespoke My Death
Funerary Rites: A Decent Send-Off
Grief
Mass Death: Global Imaginaries
Religion: The De-Secularisation of Spiritual Life and Death?
Representations Of Mortality: Watching Real Death Is Good?
Conclusion: Death in a Global Age.

This book sets a new benchmark bringing to center stage a global perspective on death and dying. It reminds us that while mortality is universal there are major cultural, economic and social differences in how people live and die across the world. Accessible in its clarity, ease of voice and logical structure, this book is an essential teaching resource' - Margaret Gibson, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Griffith University, Australia 'Ruth McManus's perceptive assessment of encounters with death provides readers with an original and invaluable resource exploring global developments and contemporary human responses to death.' - Cyril Schafer, Lecturer in Social Anthropology, University of Otago, New Zealand 'This smartly written work demonstrates the sociological imagination at its best when analyzing how global dynamics shape international mortality patterns, mortuary practices, and death belief systems'. -Michael C. Kearl, Trinity University, USA