Post-mortem personalization: pastoral power and the New Zealand funeral director

Abstract This paper critically examines the personalization of Pakeha (European) post-mortem practices in New Zealand. While much of the discourse surrounding funerary and disposal processes maintains that contemporary practices demonstrate a denial of death and funeral director esurience, funeral directors themselves argue that the Anglophone approach to death has been superseded by personalized funerary practices. Although funeral director rhetoric emphasizes the democratization of funeral practices and the primacy of individuality, an examination of the discourse reveals that this personalization also demonstrates the normalizing technologies integral to Foucault's concept of “pastoral power.” This paper argues that funeral directors play a significant role in articulating the boundaries of appropriate funeral behavior by accentuating the importance of “authenticity,”“dignity,” and “healthy grief.” These concepts underline the expertise of funeral directors, define the acceptable parameters of post-mortem practices, and reify the integral involvement of funeral directors in the construction process. This paper illustrates that funeral directors play a salient role in articulating bio-power within New Zealand society, and that this endeavor is integrally linked to the occupation's continuing pursuit of professional identity.