Panel proposal for the meeting of the African Studies Association

Washington, 17-20 November 2011

The study of funerals and that of social change generally evolved separately in African studies. On the one hand, the anthropology of African funeral rites remained focused for decades on the persistence of “traditional” funerals and on their complex ritual logics. On the other hand, the analysis of African social change developed in the wake of the Manchester School, most often without much interest in the evolutions of funerals. For the last approximately twenty five years however, more scholars began to consider funerals as playing a structuring role in the ongoing processes of change throughout Africa. In this panel, we will build on this new body of literature which has stressed, among other dimensions, the significance of changes in ritual practices, the importance of rural-urban connections, or the wide social and economic investments in funerals throughout most African social worlds, despite divergences of funeral norms and tensions over the appropriate way of death among African societies engaged in such debates.

The contributions may focus on different axes, such as the implications of religious change, the relationship between the transformations of funerals and the evolution of kinship relations, rural/urban (dis)connections, the local understandings and debates surrounding investment in funerals, or the changes in relations between generations. A general sensitivity to the dynamics of the last fifty years is expected from contributors, which are invited to reflect on patterns of changes visible in the last decades.

If interested in participating, please submit a title and a max 250 words abstract to jnoret@ulb.ac.be before March 2, 2011.