Death as a Fateful Moment? The Reflexive Individual and Scottish Funeral
Practices
by Glenys Caswell
University of Nottingham
Sociological Research Online, 16 (3) 22
<http://www. socresonline. org. uk/16/3/22. html>
10.5153∕sro.2450
Received: 4 Feb 2011 Accepted: 28 Aug 2011 Published: 31 Aug 2011
Abstract
Death is considered by some commentators to be problematic for the inhabitants of a late modern era, so
that when individuals are confronted by death they revert to using traditional institutions and practices. This
paper draws on sociological research exploring Scottish funeral practices to consider whether this is the
case, or whether individuals are able to employ a process of self-reflexivity even when they are planning
the funeral of someone about whom they cared. Two funerals are described in the article, and the
suggestion is made that their organisers behaved some of the time as reflexive individuals as well as also
making use of the traditional authorities of modernity, such as the family and church.
Keywords: Abstract Systems; Death; Fateful Moments; Reflexive Individual;
Scottish Funeral Practices; Self-Reflexivity; Traditional Institutions
Introduction
1.1 Death and its relevance to individual humans is often described in problematic terms, despite its being
an inevitable fact of life. Berger (1967), for example, describes death as representing a marginal situation,
in which the death of one individual has the capacity to reinforce others’ awareness of their own mortality
and so threaten their sense of safety and security in the world. Societies must therefore develop
techniques and rituals which enable the business of life to continue in the face of the awesome threat that
death presents (Berger 1967). For Giddens (1991) death appears as a fateful moment, such as occurs
when ‘...an individual stands, as it were, at a crossroads in their existence; or where a person learns of
information with fateful consequences’ (Giddens, 1991: 113). For example, when an individual receives a
diagnosis of terminal illness he or she may be offered options for treatment, but the patient will know that
the ultimate outcome is going to be his or her own death. Reflexivity alone cannot equip individuals to deal
with such a moment effectively, for the shock generated by facing the death of someone about whom an
individual cares robs that individual of the ability to think and reflect clearly, at least on a temporary basis.
Confrontation with such a fateful moment can therefore propel the reflexive individual of late modernity out
of reflexivity and into the traditional modes of thinking of the past, for where else can assistance be found
(Giddens 1991)?
1.2 Walter (1994) suggests that in a location and a time where individuals engage in reflexive decision
making about their lives it is also possible for them to do so about their deaths. In such a locale the
authority for decision making would rest with the person who is dying and he or she could decide such
matters as where the death should occur, who should be present and even, perhaps, when it should take
place.[1] Such reflexive decision making may also continue after death, with a funeral that represents the
wishes, beliefs and ideas of the individual who has died and involves planning by, and the participation of,
the bereaved family and friends (Walter 1994).
1.3 Walter (1994) describes this process as a revival of death. In Walter’s terms a late modern response to
death relies on psychological expertise and an understanding of the stages that individuals must go
through when they are dying or grieving. When this is combined with a post modern response to death,
which focuses on the individual as the site of authority, the result is a neo-modern approach to death
(Walter, 1994: 47). This is of particular interest, because the neo-modern revival of death means that when
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31/08/2011