"We do have space in Lausanne. We have a large cemetery": The non-controversy of a non-existent Muslim burial ground

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_49F97F503EC6
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
"We do have space in Lausanne. We have a large cemetery": The non-controversy of a non-existent Muslim burial ground
Journal
Social and Cultural Geography
Author(s)
Matthey Laurent, Felli Romain, Mager Christophe
ISSN
1464-9365
Publication state
Published
Issued date
04/2013
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
14
Number
4
Pages
428-445
Language
english
Abstract
In the context of the administration of spaces assigned by municipalities for the burial of the dead, this article provides a critical analysis of the techniques for the governance of political collectives of citizens implemented by public authorities. More broadly, this article shows how funerary practices (i.e. the social practices surrounding death-the rituals, the legislation, etc.) can be used to develop a critical reading of the social relations that structure the social production of space. To this end, the authors use the conceptual tools provided by critical legal geography to explore the controversy surrounding the development of a 'carré confessionnel' (denominational area) within the Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery in Lausanne, Switzerland. Here, a focus on the techniques that allow 'nomosphere' technicians to convene a subset of the citizens within the public space reveals the administration of cemeteries as a means of governance, a method for mobilising bodies and a paradoxical means of managing flux.
Keywords
death, funerary practices, cemetery, citizenship, governmentality, urban governance, nomosphere, Switzerland
Create date
20/08/2012 9:52
Last modification date
20/08/2019 14:57
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