What do we owe one another (as family or as a society)...in death?

Pamela Prickett is the coauthor (along with Stefan Timmermans) of the book The Unclaimed; Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels. An associate professor of sociology at the University of Amsterdam, Pamela has studied journalism and media at Boston University and at the London School of Economics, and earned her PhD from UCLA.

Her research into urban inequality, community-building, death/dying & religion led the Houston native to a mosque in Los Angeles where she witnessed a community of non-blood related people fight for the right to bury a member who died with nobody to legally claim her. The experience led Pamela to unearth the growing phenomenon of Americans, up to 150,000 of whom are going unclaimed after their deaths each year. She and her coauthor dug in to the processes, the people, the policies and the social structures that are responsible, and today we’re talking about what she learned.

We examine how different cities and countries handle their unclaimed dead, why those left behind often have a lot to say, and why complete strangers are now routinely showing up to mass burial ceremonies nationwide to mourn many of the unclaimed who they never knew. We look at which portion of the population has the highest risk of going unclaimed, and why the stories of the four people she presents in the book hit so close to home.

The Unclaimed can inspire readers to elevate our real personal connections to the top of our priorities, where they deserve to be. Our cult of independence is killing us, perhaps more slowly than we even realize. How does it matter if we go unclaimed? Is it about religion? Obligation? The fabric of a functioning society? What do we owe each other? Pamela opens up about her own estrangement from her father, and how she has determined, no matter what…that if called upon one day, no matter how much time may have passed…she says she will, claim him.

JOIN THE MAILING LIST: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/QfcGHMm/thereleasepodcast

About Pamela: https://www.pamelaprickett.com/

About The Release Podcast: https://thereleasepodcast.com/

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