The State of the UK funeral industry

Fletcher, S and McGowan, W (2020) The State of the UK funeral industry. Critical Social Policy. ISSN 0261-0183

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Abstract

The UK funeral industry is a frequently overlooked sector within critical policy discussions of State practice and welfare provision. In this article, we propose three ‘ideal types’ for making sense of State-Industry interactions: Explicit State Provision; Public-Private Legislation; and Corporate Capital. Situating these ideal types against the backdrop of austerity, we highlight three respective examples from the industry to evidence different roles performed by Funeral Directors (FDs), including: negotiations with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP); HM Coroner contract tendering; and larger scale processes of capital accumulation through the industry’s biggest provider, Dignity plc. Our analysis reveals that the funeral industry represents a nebulous political and moral economy whose local practices differ markedly, evidencing critical insights into the workings, both present and ‘absent’, of the neoliberal State.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1605 Policy and Administration, 1606 Political Science, 1607 Social Work
Divisions:	Justice Studies (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	Sage
Date of acceptance:	13 May 2020
Date of first compliant Open Access:	23 June 2020
Date Deposited:	23 Jun 2020 11:08
Last Modified:	04 Sep 2021 07:07
DOI or ID number:	10.1177/0261018320932279
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/13164

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