Big Brother and the Grim Reaper by Benjamin Ginsberg

Big Brother and the Grim Reaper

by Benjamin Ginsberg

States are thought only to exercise power over the land of the living. Benjamin Ginsberg argues otherwise, exploring the state’s reach into the realm of the Grim Reaper, bureaucratizing death to strengthen the state’s hold on life. He notes that increasingly institutions are using the regulation of death as an essential source of power. They do this by not only threatening death to their enemies but also securing loyalty and obedience by extending citizens’ lives and promising to effectuate the postmortem fulfillment of citizens’ antemortem desires. The state treats the loyal dead with respect, sometimes offering them a place in the secular afterlife of honor and memory, while consigning the faithless to the void.

Reviewed by Jeff Sexton on

4 of 5 stars

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Comprehensive. Dense. Short. Slightly Lacking Bibliography. This is an utterly fascinating look at the history and current issues involving political (and thus legal) life after death, in all kinds of different ways. Some ways you have probably heard of (Wills, Advanced Directives, etc). Other ways may be new to you, including the idea of posthumous reproduction. Everything is covered in a sort of "primer" manner - we get a broad overview, a few specific examples, a decent discussion of the overall subfield... and then we're moving... and we're moving. Which is to be somewhat expected given the overall brevity of the book and just how many different posthumous topics Ginsberg manages to discuss at all.  

 

Indeed, the only weakness here is simply that at 13% bibliography, I simply expect at least a *touch* more - even, perhaps, as low as 15% (on an already expanded window that was once 20-30%).  

 

Beyond this particular quibble, read this book - you're going to learn a lot and have a lot to think about. I know I did and do.

 

Very much recommended.

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Reading updates

  • 4 July, 2024: Started reading
  • 5 July, 2024: Finished reading
  • 5 July, 2024: Reviewed