Constructing Death reviews sociological, anthropological and historical studies of death, grief and mourning in order to illuminate present-day experience. It is both an introduction to the sociological study of death, dying and bereavement, and an original contribution to death studies and social theory, combining a theoretical argument with original research material. The volume will be of use to students and scholars of sociology, as well as health care practitioners.

Part I. Social and Material Worlds: 1. Experiencing and representing the body; 2. Death, embodiment and social structure; 3. The social aspect of death; Part II. Representing Death: 4. Medicine, modernity and the risks of life; 5. The revival of death awareness; 6. Reporting death; Part III. Experiencing Death: 7. Falling from culture; 8. Awareness and control of dying; 9. Grief and resurrective practices.