Anne Allison

My current research studies shifts in end-of-life practices in Japan as the country undergoes demographic and socio-economic changes away from family-based residential life. I am particularly interested in those persons who, either by choice or circumstance, no longer have the option of the family grave as a final resting place. The threat of winding up as abandoned or estranged souls (muenbotoke) fuels anxiety for aging seniors, but it also fuels a new "ending marketplace" that provides alternatives outside that of the family grave. 

Recently, I have also become interested in new mortuary and end-of-life trends closer to home. Having become a volunteer at a community conservation cemetery close to Durham and a frequent participation in Death Cafes. I've also started a research group with Duke undergraduates studying what happens to "relationless dead" in Durham.