New Books in Sociology Ruth E. Toulson, "Necropolitics of the Ordinary: Death and Grieving in Contemporary Singapore" (U Washington Press, 2024)
Sep 7, 2025
Ruth E. Toulson, an anthropologist and trained mortician, explores the necropolitics in Singapore, revealing how state policies reshape ancestral traditions into a controlled form of Buddhism. She discusses the emotional turmoil caused by forced exhumations and the political contestation surrounding cemeteries. The conversation highlights personal grief against societal expectations, particularly a father's heartache over his daughter's suicide, and the complex dynamics of mourning rituals that reflect deeper issues of identity and colonial legacies in a rapidly changing society.
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Necropolitics Applies To Ordinary Deaths
- Necropolitics literature usually studies political or violent deaths, but Toulson expands it to ordinary deaths and practices.
- She shows everyday funeral choices are political because they reflect state-shaped possibilities and identities.
Funeral Directors Shape Grief And Possibilities
- Funeral directors in Singapore both organize rites and teach families how to grieve within constrained options.
- Those options are shaped by lifetime experiences of state policies, making private grief subtly political.
A Father's Conflict Over A 'Bad' Death
- Mr. Bao's daughter committed suicide after hospital release and left his grieving deeply conflicted.
- He loved her yet struggled because her life failed to meet state idealizations of success and family.
