ABSTRACT
Capitalism has led to the appropriation of oppressed groups, their experiences and narratives. We believe this includes narratives and given value of the dead where there remains a continuation of inequalities of life unto death and being dead. Specifically, we suggest that the discrepancy of the value of the dead is the result of the links between power, politics, and hegemonic discourse embedded in neoliberalism that propagate and reify unequal power edifices that value some groups over others, in life and death, what we refer to as mortuuspolitics. The State, entrenched within the capitalistic neoliberal definition of value, also decides on the value or non-value of the dead.
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Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. We recognize that other structures and narratives shape our valuation of the dead including for people of color, LGBTQ and women in particular.
2. We note that Freddy Gray’s value in life and death was shaped by his ‘place’ in the United States system of capitalism and his ‘color’ to wit intersect in the defining of value of life and dead.