Deathscapes in diaspora: contesting space and negotiating home in contexts of post-migration diversity

Abstract

The literature on deathscapes has thus far neglected the diversity of mortuary practices resulting from the inherently spatial phenomenon of migration and the increased capacity for transnational activities linking migrant communities with places of origin. Against this sedentarist bias, this article proposes that the end of life is a critical juncture in the settlement process for diasporic communities. On the one hand, practices such as posthumous repatriation may serve to reinforce shared perceptions of temporary presence in host countries. On the other hand, death may be the occasion to lay what are perhaps the deepest foundations for home-making in diaspora, through funeral rituals and memorialisation. However, these latter claims to space in adopted homelands may also be the object of legal and political contestation, as demonstrated through an analysis of disputes in the UK over open-air Hindu funeral pyres and planning permission for a Muslim cemetery. What is at stake is the legitimate symbolic re-inscription of space. As such, diasporic deathscapes are an exemplary site of contestation and negotiation between migrant place-making practices and the domesticating urges of governmental subjects.

Paisajes de muerte en diáspora: la impugnación del espacio y la negociación del hogar en contextos de diversidad pos-migratoria

La literatura sobre paisajes de muerte ha descuidado hasta ahora la diversidad de las prácticas mortuorias resultantes del fenómeno inherentemente espacial de la migración y el aumento de la capacidad para las actividades transnacionales que vinculan las comunidades de migrantes con lugares de origen. Contra esta preferencia sedentaria, este artículo propone que el final de la vida es un momento crítico en el proceso de asentamiento para las comunidades de la diáspora. Por un lado, las prácticas como la repatriación póstuma pueden servir para reforzar las percepciones compartidas de presencia temporal en los países anfitriones. Por otra parte, la muerte puede ser la ocasión para establecer lo que quizás son las bases más profundas para la formación del hogar en diáspora, a través de rituales funerarios y homenajes. Sin embargo, estas últimas pretensiones de espacio en países adoptivos también pueden ser objeto de impugnación jurídica y política, como se ha demostrado a través de un análisis de controversias en el Reino Unido sobre piras funerarias hindúes al aire libre y el permiso de planificación para un cementerio islámico. Lo que está en juego es la reinscripción simbólica y legitima del espacio. Como tal, los paisajes de muerte dispersivos son un sitio ejemplar para la impugnación y negociación entre prácticas migrantes de establecer el hogar y la importancia de la domesticación de temas gubernamentales.

Paysages mortuaires de la diaspora: contestation d'espace et négociation du chez-soi dans les contextes de la diversité post-migratoire

La recherche au sujet des paysages mortuaires a négligé jusqu'à présent la diversité des pratiques mortuaires résultant du phénomène intrinsèquement spatial de la migration et la capacité accrue des activités transnationales reliant les communautés migrantes aux lieux d'origine. Contre ce parti-pris sédentariste, cet article avance que la fin de vie est un moment crucial du processus d'implantation pour les communautés diasporiques. D'une part, les pratiques telles que le rapatriement posthume peuvent servir à renforcer les impressions partagées de présence temporaire dans les pays d'accueil. D'autre part, la mort peut être l'occasion d'établir ce qui pourrait éventuellement être les fondations les plus profondes d'enracinement de la diaspora, par le biais des rituels mortuaires et commémoratifs. Toutefois, ces dernières revendications à l'espace dans les pays adoptifs peuvent aussi faire l'objet de contestation légale et politique, comme il est démontré dans une analyse de désaccords au Royaume-Uni au sujet de bûchers funéraires hindous à ciel ouvert et de permission de construire pour un cimetière musulman. Ce qui est en jeu est la réinscription légitime symbolique de l'espace. Dans ce sens, les paysages mortuaires diasporiques sont un site exemplaire de contestation et de négociation entre les pratiques de construction de lieux des migrants et les désirs de domestication des sujets gouvernementaux.

Keywords::

• cemeteries
• funeral pyres
• Muslims
• Hindus
• Sikhs
• the UK

Keywords::

• cimetières
• bûchers funéraires
• musulmans
• hindous
• sikhs
• Royaume-Uni

Palabras claves::

• cementerios
• piras funerarias
• musulmanes
• hindúes
• sijs
• Reino Unido

Acknowledgements

I am most grateful to the guest editors Charlotte Kenten, Avril Maddrell and Olivia Stevenson for inviting me to contribute to this special issue and for all their subsequent advice and encouragement while drafting this article. I am equally indebted to the three anonymous reviewers for their suggestions which have greatly improved the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

^1. One reason why nationalism is such a potent contemporary ideological force is precisely because the idea of the nation can give collective and durable meaning to death, fatality and sacrifice just as religion served to do before the Enlightenment era of rationalist secularism (Anderson, 1991, pp. 11–12).

^2. The search strings used in LexisLibrary were as follows: ‘Muslim AND cemetery AND Glasgow’ for all UK newspapers between 2005 and 2008; and ‘Hindu OR Sikh AND pyre AND Ghai’ for all UK newspapers and all years.

^3.www.glasgow.gov.uk/chttphandler.ashx?id=16943. This figure derives from 2011 Census data for the Glasgow City area, although substantial numbers of Pakistani-heritage Muslims live in nearby suburban council areas of East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire (Mir, 2007).

^4. Public interest in the campaign increased substantially in July 2006 when Mr Ghai conducted the first open-air funeral pyre in the UK for over 70 years in a remote part of Northumberland. The service was held for Rajpal Mehat, a Sikh migrant who was found drowned in a London canal and whose body was not deemed fit for repatriation to his family in India. The AAFS informed the Northumberland Police of their intention to conduct an open-air cremation in accordance with the Mehat family's wishes, and officers initially allowed the ceremony to go ahead. However, following the service, it was concluded that offences had been committed under the Cremation Act of 1902. Nonetheless, bringing a case against Mr Ghai was not deemed to be in the public interest.

^5. Ghai v Newcastle City Council 2009 EWHC 978, at [105].

^6. Ghai v Newcastle City Council 2009 EWHC 978, at [108].

^7. Ghai v Newcastle City Council 2009 EWHC 978, at [160].

^8. Ghai v Newcastle City Council 2009 EWHC 978, at [161].

^9. Ghai v Newcastle City Council 2010 EWCA Civ 59, at [28].

^10. Ghai v Newcastle City Council 2010 EWCA Civ 59, at [26].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the British Academy [grant number PF140103].