Contemplating a career in death and dying- an interview with Tony Walter

ABSTRACT

This email-based interview with Tony Walter was conducted over a period of one year with Q & A’s going back and forth over the North Sea. The interview deals with a number of issues in regard to Tony Walter’s extensive work on death, dying and related matters over the past three decades. In the interview, Tony Walter reflects on the background of his own work and on the rise and development of the sociology of death and dying/death studies since the late 1980s. Moreover we revisit many of his published pieces of work and touch upon motivations and considerations behind some of his main ideas. Finally, the interview turns to the contemporary ‘corona crisis’ as well as looks ahead towards the future of the sociology of death and dying/death studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Tony Walter
• the sociology of death and dying
• death taboo
• revival of death
• corona crisis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Hviid Jacobsen

Michael Hviid Jacobsen is Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University, Denmark.