Death
The cycle of life is inevitable. Through this cycle, we all see many ups and downs as individuals. Furthermore, we can all come to agree that there are a series of ways and perspectives through which an individual chooses to approach their life. These ways of life include several different facets such as: societal standards, religion, family tradition, etc. This article that we were given to read discusses the concept of authoritative knowledge. By noticing how there are several different knowledge systems that can be incorporated into everyday life, they are usually defined as separate entities. In the concept of death alone, the way we as individuals approach the concept of death probably involves several different knowledge systems ranging from the economic aspects, to the religious ones, and everywhere in between. These parallel knowledge systems are things that people generally move between and the article does a relatively good job of encompassing this concept. Therefore when it comes to ideas like death and how individuals approach it, the idea of authoritative knowledge comes into play. The article defines authoritative knowledge as, “The constitution of authoritative knowledge is an ongoing social process that both builds and reflect power relationships within a community of practice.” (Jordan, 2013). Therefore it becomes more clearer that the idea of how one approaches something like death is purely dependent on the combination of several of these aspects that are at hand. To tie this up further, the article mentions, “It does this (authoritative knowledge) in such a way that all participants come to see the current social order as a natural order i.e. the way things are.” (Jordan, 2013).
After developing an understanding of this, the next dilemma becomes figuring out how this plays out the concept of death in my country of study. The country I chose to study this semester is India. Personally speaking, I am relatively familiar with one of the approaches to marking death in Indian culture as my grandfather came from India and passed away here in Pontiac, Michigan. As per UNICEF, the data that I have seen had led me to the conclusion that the way an individual’s death is treated, is dependent on socioeconomic status, religion, and legal status in India. For starters, UNICEF produced a statistic stating that, “Annual no. of deaths under – 5 (2012) is reported to be 1414 thousand”. (UNICEF, 2018). This is a massive statistic to take a look at, as a result of being higher than several other countries averages UNICEF portrayed that there are several different approaches to how a death is marked. Most deaths are reported to a hospital like most other countries. The first of the three big religions in India is Christianity. This funeral process is relatively standard, as it maintains the same processes as Christian burials occur here in the United States, therefore, I will not waste words from the word limit on this religion. Onwards to Islam and Hinduism, which are the other two big religions that are hosted in India. Both of these religions follow relatively similar rituals as they approach to pronounce an individual dead. This idea also starts off at hospitals in most cases, and once the post mortem report is listed, the family is given the body respectively. Within this, there is a funeral pyre and a one month ritual for Hinduism, and just a funeral pyre for Islam. The Hindus first schedule an auspicious date nearby in order to conduct a funeral pyre where they do prayers in front of the dead body, feed several guests in order to celebrate an individual’s soul reaching the heavens, and then burning the pyre. After a month from this ritual, the one-month ritual is a prayer done in front of a picture of the dead one in order to affirm and bless an individual in their trip to the afterlife. Islam is similar, as they go straight to the funeral pyre and read of their religious text, the Qu’ran accordingly.
As one can see between these three religions in India, death is approached with cultural authority. As the author defines this as, “the probability that particular definitions of reality and judgments of meaning and value will prevail.” (Jordan, 2013).
Works Cited
Jordan, Briggite. Authoritative Knowledge, 1992.
“Statistics.” UNICEF.org, UNICEF, 27 Dec. 2013, www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_statistics.html.
“UNITED NATIONS GIRLS EDUCATION INITIATIVE.” UNGEI.org, UGEI, 2010, www.ungei.org/infobycountry/india_4187.html.
Clever! I liked how you took Gigi’s article about birth and were able to connect it to authoritative knowledge with death. I also liked how you approached it from a religious standpoint, but you could take the concept of authoritative knowledge and apply it to any aspect of death.