Desecrating memory: contemporary forms of violence against the dead and their cultural significance

Julia Świergiel

doi:10.21697/ucs.2025.36.2.05

Published: 2025-12-31

Vol. 36 No. 2 (2025)

Desecrating memory: contemporary forms of violence against the dead and their cultural significance

Julia Świergiel

Academic Journal of Sociology

Section: Próby i debiuty

https://doi.org/10.21697/ucs.2025.36.2.05

Abstract

This study examines contemporary forms of violence against the dead, regarding them not only as criminal acts but also sociological phenomena rooted in broader cultural and institutional shifts. Drawing on the work of Philippe Ariès, Pierre Bourdieu, and others, this analysis examines how the disappearance of the communal mourning and other practices related to death and the rise of bureaucratic and privatised death has created conditions in which symbolic and institutional violence against the dead flourishes. Through the use of two case studies from 2025, one from Poland and one from Italy, it analyses the commodification of corpses and the desecration of graves. These examples illustrate how violence against the dead reflects a broader deterioration of collective memory, rituals, and social obligation. This article argues that these cases are not isolated incidents but representatives of deeper problems plaguing contemporary society.

Keywords:

violence against the dead, symbolic violence, institutional violence, invisible death, grave desecration, Philippe Ariès, death taboos

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Świergiel, J. (2025). Desecrating memory: contemporary forms of violence against the dead and their cultural significance. Academic Journal of Sociology, 36(2), 49–56. https://doi.org/10.21697/ucs.2025.36.2.05

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