Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief

Darcy L. Harris is professor emeritus in the Department of Thanatology at King’s University College in London, Ontario, Canada, as well as a faculty member for the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition in the USA.Tashel C. Bordere is a researcher at the Center for Family Policy & Research at the University of Missouri and a consultant. She is the immediate past president of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief.Lisa McLean is an assistant professor in the Department of Thanatology at King’s University College in London, Ontario, Canada, and is the director of the Grief and Loss Research Lab.

“I thought it would be difficult to improve on the first edition of Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief. I was wrong. At a time when diversity, equity, and inclusion are being so challenged, their revised edition is a needed tonic, offering hope and possibilities in a darkening world. This work must be read!”Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, senior vice president for grief programs, The Hospice Foundation of America“The dominating paradigm of grief as an individual experience downplays and disregards the social, political, structural, and economic circumstances in which losses occur. The authors in this handbook shed much-needed light on the broader societal factors that impact the grief of marginalized communities facing death and non-death losses. Highly recommended!”Donna Schuurman, EdD, FT, senior director of advocacy and education and executive director emeritus of the Dougy Center, The National Grief Center for Children and Families, USA“This updated edition is a comprehensive exploration of the political dimensions and contexts of the end of life and what social justice in dying, death, and bereavement means for people and planet. In an increasingly unstable world, this revised volume has never been more important. Everyone needs to read it.”Kate Woodthorpe, PhD, director of the Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath, UK“The Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief makes an enormous and timely contribution to understanding death, dying, grief, and loss at the nexus of social inequalities, state violence, and structural erasures. The book issues an urgent call to prioritize social justice in how we talk about grief and loss so that we can better meet the needs of marginalized groups of people whose experiences are often diminished or overlooked in thanatology literature.”Erica Lawson, associate professor of gender, sexuality, and women’s studies, Western University, Canada

• Part 1: Introductory Concepts 1. Social Justice Conceptualizations in Loss and Grief 2. Looking at Loss and Grief from a Critically Informed Perspective 3. Living, Suffering, and Dying in a Globalized World 4. Suffocated Grief and Oppression-Based Loss Part 2: Identity, Lived Experience, and Grief 5. Black Parenting, Resistance, and Oppression in Loss and Grief 6. Loss and Grief among LGBTQ+ Youth Emerging into Adulthood 7. Intersectionality, Loss, and Student Grief in College 8. Loss and Grief in Canada’s First Nations People 9. Ageism, Loss, and Spiritual Diminishment 10. “I’m open to facing the fear as well as the good”: Enfranchised Grief and Intellectual Disability Part 3: Health and Health Care 11. Iatrogenic Harm and Objectification in the Context of Care Delivery 12. Exploring Equity and Egalitarian Perspectives in End of Life Care 13. Medicalizing Grief 14. The Politics of Care and Care as Politics Part 4: Socio-political Dynamics of Grief and Loss 15. Political Grief 16. Loss Related to Regime Change: Mourning Hong Kong 17. Femicide and Feminicide in Global Perspective 18. Environmental Grief 19. Oppression of the Bereaved 20. Reproductive (in)Justice Work: Witnessing Grief and Seeking Joy 21. Disappearance, Forced Disappearance, and Ambiguous Loss Part 5: Implications and Responses 22. Grief Activism: Climate Grief and Youth-Led Activism 23. Alliances and Advocacy 24. Cultural Competence and Humility 25. Spirituality and Ritual in Response to Social Injustice 26. Death Education and Literacy as a Social Justice Issue Conclusion: Hope, Empowerment, and Compassion