Representing alkaline hydrolysis: a material-semiotic analysis of an alternative to burial and cremation.

Alkaline hydrolysis can lay claim to being a resource-efficient, effective, economical and environmentally sound method of final body disposition, relative to burial and cremation. On technical grounds it may have much to recommend it, however, like many other technical innovations, its take-up is h...

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Publicado en:Mortality Vol. 29; no. 3; pp. 447 - 466
Autores principales: Arnold, Michael, Kohn, Tamara, Nansen, Bjorn, Allison, Fraser
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Aug2024
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        10.1080/13576275.2023.2174838
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        atl: Representing alkaline hydrolysis: a material-semiotic analysis of an alternative to burial and cremation.
      aug:
        au:
          Arnold, Michael
          Kohn, Tamara
          Nansen, Bjorn
          Allison, Fraser
        affil:
          Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
          Anthropology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
          Media Studies, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
          Human Computer Interaction, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
      su:
        Diffusion of innovations
        Marketing
        Public opinion
        Manufacturing industries
        Interment
        Product design
        New product development
        Physical & theoretical chemistry
      sug:
        subj:
          Diffusion of innovations
          Marketing
          Public opinion
          Manufacturing industries
          Interment
          Marketing Consulting Services
          Industrial Design Services
          Product design
          New product development
          Physical & theoretical chemistry
      keyword:
        Alkaline hydrolysis
        body disposal
        cremation
        death care industry
        material semiotics
        Alkaline hydrolysis
        body disposal
        cremation
        death care industry
        material semiotics
      ab: Alkaline hydrolysis can lay claim to being a resource-efficient, effective, economical and environmentally sound method of final body disposition, relative to burial and cremation. On technical grounds it may have much to recommend it, however, like many other technical innovations, its take-up is hindered by the fact that it lacks a clear position in the public imagination. For this position to take shape, an understanding of just what it is and what it offers is required by proponents in the funeral industry who advise the bereaved, as well as by the material representations of the alkaline hydrolysis technologies themselves. In this article, we describe and analyse four extant alternative material and discursive forms of alkaline hydrolysis and how they variously occupy the fraught space where morality, death and marketing converge. Currently, each of the four forms of alkaline hydrolysis struggle to represent themselves in a public narrative that conveys their different ontologies and their competitive advantage, relative to burial and cremation, and this paper describes some key rhetorical and technical aspects of these struggles.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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