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Death Across Cultures

Death and Dying in Non-Western Cultures

  • Cross-cultural perspectives
  • Accessible but based on current scholarship
  • Deals with the period before death and not just with death and funerals

Part of the book series: Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science (SACH, volume 9)

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Table of contents (22 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
  2. Belief in Karma and Mokṣa at the End of Life in India

    • Joris Gielen, Komal Kashyap
    Pages 19-39
  3. Death and the Afterlife in Japan

    • Gordon Mathews
    Pages 41-55
  4. Death and Dying: Belief, Fear and Ritual in Vietnamese Culture

    • Nguyen Duc Son, Giap Binh Nga
    Pages 75-82
  5. Death in Botswana: Life Among the Ashes

    • Deborah Durham
    Pages 133-149
  6. Living Coffins and Death Among the Ga of Ghana

    • Roberta Bonetti
    Pages 167-192
  7. The Yoruba of Nigeria and the Ontology of Death and Burial

    • Henri Oripeloye, Morufu Bukola Omigbule
    Pages 193-205
  8. Transformation of Funeral Rituals in Togo

    • Jacek Jan Pawlik
    Pages 207-224
  9. Rituals Around Life and Death in Mexico; The Day of the Dead

    • Adelina Arredondo, Cristina Casillas
    Pages 225-242
  10. Continuity and Ruptures in Brazilian Funeral Rites

    • Marisete T. Hoffmann-Horochovski, José Miguel Rasia
    Pages 243-260
  11. The Right to a Dignified Death in Argentina

    • Juan Pedro Alonso, Natalia Luxardo, Javier Roberti
    Pages 261-273
  12. He taonga tuku iho: Indigenous End of Life and Death Care Customs of New Zealand Māori

    • Tess Moeke-Maxwell, Kathleen Mason, Frances Toohey, Rawiri Wharemate, Merryn Gott
    Pages 295-316

About this book

Death Across Cultures: Death and Dying in Non-Western Cultures, explores death practices and beliefs, before and after death, around the non-Western world. It includes chapters on countries in Africa, Asia, South America, as well as indigenous people in Australia and North America.  These chapters address changes in death rituals and beliefs, medicalization and the industry of death, and the different ways cultures mediate the impacts of modernity. Comparative studies with the west and among countries are included. This book brings together global research conducted by anthropologists, social scientists and scholars who work closely with individuals from the cultures they are writing about.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Hampshire College (Retired), Amherst, USA

    Helaine Selin

  • Emeritus Professor of Politics and Environmental Studies, Hampshire College, Amherst, USA

    Robert M. Rakoff

About the editors

Helaine Selin was a Faculty Associate and Science Librarian at Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA, from which she retired in 2012. She is the editor of the Encyclopedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures (3rd ed. Springer 2016) and seven books in Springer’s Science Across Cultures series, on Astronomy, Mathematics, Medicine, Nature, Childbirth, Parenting, and Happiness.


Robert M. Rakoff, emeritus professor of politics and environmental studies at Hampshire College, received his B.A. from Oberlin College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington in the U.S.
He taught at the University of Illinois/Chicago and worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development before coming to Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts in 1979.
His teaching and research interests include environmental history and policy; the politics of land use; US welfare policy; the culturalconstruction of nature; creative non-fiction writing about the outdoors; and the political economy of farming and rural life.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access