Fractures and Reconstruction: Social Identity Formation in Ecological Funeral Services in Guangdong and Hubei Provinces,China

Abstract

The reform to introduce ecological funeral practices in China must effectively balance the relationship between institutional imperatives and public opinion. We conducted in-depth interviews with the family members of deceased individuals to elicit their experiences when choosing ecological funeral practices. Our analysis revealed that body transformation politics disrupts human relations and etiquette, leading to the fragmentation of traditional culture and diminishing the value of ecological funeral practices, which ultimately results in public alienation and undermines the reform’s objectives. Situational negotiation, self-internalization, and re-recognition of meaning in ecological funeral practices respectively highlight issues of funeral mode identification, emotional identification, and cultural identification. Accordingly, the core focus of our study was the logic of reconstructing social identity in ecological funeral practices. The formation of social identity in ecological funeral practices requires the construction of a supportive structural environment that constantly expands the space for human emotions and the meaning of life.