Brenda Mathijssen
Biographic Data
| ID | 355555 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Brenda Mathijssen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Brenda |
| FAMILY NAME | Mathijssen |
| SIGNATURE | MATHIJSSEN B |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Groningen |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0461-829X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 21 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Israel’s perpetual burial challenge – a qualitative analysis of stakeholder views
Perpetual burial results in incremental, irreversible land consumption. When combined with positive population growth and general land constraints, opportunity costs can be problematic. In Israel, perpetual burial is the default state policy, shaped primarily by religious dictums. Despite the significance of this issue, the challenges of burial policy in Israel have not yet been studied from this perspective. To address this gap, we interviewed 1…
How motivations for natural burial extend notions of the good death
Research on the ‘good death’ has largely focused on palliative and end-of-life care, emphasising pain management and autonomy. While death studies have long examined funerary and post-mortem practices as sites of meaning-making, their relationship to ideas of the good death has received comparatively little analytical attention. This article addresses that gap by exploring notions of a ‘good death’ from the perspective of post-mortem funerary cho…
Mapping nature burial in the Netherlands (2003–2023)
Natural burial has become a popular burial practice in the 21st century. Initially developed in the UK, this practice has since spread to various countries. Despite its growing adoption, comprehensive academic studies exploring the country-specific governance, cultural meanings, and developmental trajectories of natural burial remain scarce. Specifically for the Netherlands, there is a notable absence of systematic research detailing the developm…
Ritual Worlding. Exploring the Self-and-world-making Efficacy of Rituals
Despite extensive research on the functions and meanings of ritual, the question of ritual efficacy remains a topic of debate. This paper explores how the concept of worlding can contribute to the study of ritual efficacy. Based on theoretical literature and qualitative research into cremation and perinatal loss, it proposes that rituals can be understood as worlding practices characterized by an entanglement of virtuality and actuality. In ritua…
Hindu Mobilities and Cremation: Minority, Migrant and Gendered Dialogues and Dialectics in English and Welsh Towns
In Chap. 1 Avril Maddrell, Brenda Mathijssen, Yasminah Beebeejaun, Katie McClymont and Danny McNally untangle the embodied, gendered, racialised and institutionalized cremation practices of Hindu communities in three case study towns: Northampton and Swindon in England and Newport in Wales. They argue that attending to questions of (in)adequate funerary infrastructure and norms – including prompt cremation; accommodating ritual requirements for w…
The human corpse as aesthetic-therapeutic
This paper shows how the human corpse can function as an aesthetic-therapeutic for the deceased, the bereaved and for death care professionals. It understands the human corpse as a liminal entity that is characterised by a specific materiality, biography and self-referentiality. Because of these attributes the corpse can be employed as an aesthetic-therapeutic by the bereaved and by death care professionals in response to a death. On the basis of…
Diverse teams researching diversity: Negotiating identity, place and embodiment in qualitative research
Fieldwork encounters are not only contingent to biographical subjectivities, but are mediated by a confluence of identity, place and embodiment. This paper offers reflexive accounts of researchers with various socio-cultural and disciplinary backgrounds, who collaborated as a team to examine the varied funerary experiences and needs of established minorities and recent migrants in England and Wales. Focusing on the researchers' varied personal ex…
Birth and Death: Studying Ritual, Embodied Practices and Spirituality at the Start and End of Life
Birth and death are fundamental human experiences
Death in the Peripheries: Planning for Minority Ethnic Groups beyond “the City”
“Deathscapes” constitute a growing field of research, yet the topic remains widely neglected within urban planning. In this paper, we examine the adequacy of existing provision for death, remembrance, and the disposal of body remains for ethnic minority groups living in four British towns: Huddersfield, Newport, Northampton, and Swindon. The paper argues that the failure of contemporary planning policy and practice to address the intersections be…
Intersections of (infra)structural violence and cultural inclusion: The geopolitics of minority cemeteries and crematoria provision
Building on embodied and de‐colonial approaches to geopolitics, this paper examines the relationship between forms of governance in municipal cemetery and crematorium provision and the needs of established minorities, arguing that inadequate infrastructure and services can constitute harm. Crucially, it is contended that forms of governance impact not only on the living, but also on perceptions of the wellbeing of the dead. Grounded in a study of…
Transforming bonds: Ritualising post-mortem relationships in the Netherlands
People continue relationships with their dead in a variety of ways. Since the 1990s, the idea of ‘continuing bonds’ has provided a framework for exploring and understanding post-mortem relationships. However, the dynamics of the bonds between the living and the dead have received little attention. By looking at the intersection of things, practices and spaces, this paper demonstrates that expressions of continuing bonds do not always point to con…
The ambiguity of human ashes: Exploring encounters with cremated remains in the Netherlands
This article explores cremation and disposal practices in the Netherlands, focusing on the attitudes and experiences of bereaved Dutch people in relation to cremated remains. In academic and professional narratives, human ashes are commonly described as "important," as "sacred," and as a vehicle to continue intense and physical relationships with the dead. Based on quantitative and qualitative data this article illustrates the ambiguity of such r…
Intersections of (infra)structural violence and cultural inclusion: The geopolitics of minority cemeteries and crematoria provision
Building on embodied and de‐colonial approaches to geopolitics, this paper examines the relationship between forms of governance in municipal cemetery and crematorium provision and the needs of established minorities, arguing that inadequate infrastructure and services can constitute harm. Crucially, it is contended that forms of governance impact not only on the living, but also on perceptions of the wellbeing of the dead. Grounded in a study of…
Diverse teams researching diversity: Negotiating identity, place and embodiment in qualitative research
Fieldwork encounters are not only contingent to biographical subjectivities, but are mediated by a confluence of identity, place and embodiment. This paper offers reflexive accounts of researchers with various socio-cultural and disciplinary backgrounds, who collaborated as a team to examine the varied funerary experiences and needs of established minorities and recent migrants in England and Wales. Focusing on the researchers' varied personal ex…
Death in the Peripheries: Planning for Minority Ethnic Groups beyond “the City”
“Deathscapes” constitute a growing field of research, yet the topic remains widely neglected within urban planning. In this paper, we examine the adequacy of existing provision for death, remembrance, and the disposal of body remains for ethnic minority groups living in four British towns: Huddersfield, Newport, Northampton, and Swindon. The paper argues that the failure of contemporary planning policy and practice to address the intersections be…
The ambiguity of human ashes: Exploring encounters with cremated remains in the Netherlands
This article explores cremation and disposal practices in the Netherlands, focusing on the attitudes and experiences of bereaved Dutch people in relation to cremated remains. In academic and professional narratives, human ashes are commonly described as "important," as "sacred," and as a vehicle to continue intense and physical relationships with the dead. Based on quantitative and qualitative data this article illustrates the ambiguity of such r…
The ambiguity of human ashes: Exploring encounters with cremated remains in the Netherlands
This article explores cremation and disposal practices in the Netherlands, focusing on the attitudes and experiences of bereaved Dutch people in relation to cremated remains. In academic and professional narratives, human ashes are commonly described as "important," as "sacred," and as a vehicle to continue intense and physical relationships with the dead. Based on quantitative and qualitative data this article illustrates the ambiguity of such r…
Transforming bonds: Ritualising post-mortem relationships in the Netherlands
People continue relationships with their dead in a variety of ways. Since the 1990s, the idea of ‘continuing bonds’ has provided a framework for exploring and understanding post-mortem relationships. However, the dynamics of the bonds between the living and the dead have received little attention. By looking at the intersection of things, practices and spaces, this paper demonstrates that expressions of continuing bonds do not always point to con…
Death in the Peripheries: Planning for Minority Ethnic Groups beyond “the City”
“Deathscapes” constitute a growing field of research, yet the topic remains widely neglected within urban planning. In this paper, we examine the adequacy of existing provision for death, remembrance, and the disposal of body remains for ethnic minority groups living in four British towns: Huddersfield, Newport, Northampton, and Swindon. The paper argues that the failure of contemporary planning policy and practice to address the intersections be…
Intersections of (infra)structural violence and cultural inclusion: The geopolitics of minority cemeteries and crematoria provision
Building on embodied and de‐colonial approaches to geopolitics, this paper examines the relationship between forms of governance in municipal cemetery and crematorium provision and the needs of established minorities, arguing that inadequate infrastructure and services can constitute harm. Crucially, it is contended that forms of governance impact not only on the living, but also on perceptions of the wellbeing of the dead. Grounded in a study of…
Birth and Death: Studying Ritual, Embodied Practices and Spirituality at the Start and End of Life
Birth and death are fundamental human experiences
Ritual Worlding. Exploring the Self-and-world-making Efficacy of Rituals
Despite extensive research on the functions and meanings of ritual, the question of ritual efficacy remains a topic of debate. This paper explores how the concept of worlding can contribute to the study of ritual efficacy. Based on theoretical literature and qualitative research into cremation and perinatal loss, it proposes that rituals can be understood as worlding practices characterized by an entanglement of virtuality and actuality. In ritua…
Hindu Mobilities and Cremation: Minority, Migrant and Gendered Dialogues and Dialectics in English and Welsh Towns
In Chap. 1 Avril Maddrell, Brenda Mathijssen, Yasminah Beebeejaun, Katie McClymont and Danny McNally untangle the embodied, gendered, racialised and institutionalized cremation practices of Hindu communities in three case study towns: Northampton and Swindon in England and Newport in Wales. They argue that attending to questions of (in)adequate funerary infrastructure and norms – including prompt cremation; accommodating ritual requirements for w…
The human corpse as aesthetic-therapeutic
This paper shows how the human corpse can function as an aesthetic-therapeutic for the deceased, the bereaved and for death care professionals. It understands the human corpse as a liminal entity that is characterised by a specific materiality, biography and self-referentiality. Because of these attributes the corpse can be employed as an aesthetic-therapeutic by the bereaved and by death care professionals in response to a death. On the basis of…
Diverse teams researching diversity: Negotiating identity, place and embodiment in qualitative research
Fieldwork encounters are not only contingent to biographical subjectivities, but are mediated by a confluence of identity, place and embodiment. This paper offers reflexive accounts of researchers with various socio-cultural and disciplinary backgrounds, who collaborated as a team to examine the varied funerary experiences and needs of established minorities and recent migrants in England and Wales. Focusing on the researchers' varied personal ex…
Mapping nature burial in the Netherlands (2003–2023)
Natural burial has become a popular burial practice in the 21st century. Initially developed in the UK, this practice has since spread to various countries. Despite its growing adoption, comprehensive academic studies exploring the country-specific governance, cultural meanings, and developmental trajectories of natural burial remain scarce. Specifically for the Netherlands, there is a notable absence of systematic research detailing the developm…
Israel’s perpetual burial challenge – a qualitative analysis of stakeholder views
Perpetual burial results in incremental, irreversible land consumption. When combined with positive population growth and general land constraints, opportunity costs can be problematic. In Israel, perpetual burial is the default state policy, shaped primarily by religious dictums. Despite the significance of this issue, the challenges of burial policy in Israel have not yet been studied from this perspective. To address this gap, we interviewed 1…
How motivations for natural burial extend notions of the good death
Research on the ‘good death’ has largely focused on palliative and end-of-life care, emphasising pain management and autonomy. While death studies have long examined funerary and post-mortem practices as sites of meaning-making, their relationship to ideas of the good death has received comparatively little analytical attention. This article addresses that gap by exploring notions of a ‘good death’ from the perspective of post-mortem funerary cho…
Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health (11 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Anthropological Studies and Insights (6 works) · Political science (5 works) · Aesthetics (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works) · Psychology (4 works) · Social science (4 works) · Anthropology (3 works) · Art (3 works)