Project description
Understanding the role of the dead in contemporary society
We struggle to fully grasp the role of the deceased; the findings of various disciplines remain scattered and compartmentalised. The EU-funded DEAGENCY project aims to consolidate insights from different disciplines to achieve a comprehensive understanding of how the deceased influence people’s lives. The objective is to formulate a comprehensive theory that explains the role of the deceased in modern society by identifying how individuals perceive and conceptualise the agency of the deceased, as well as the reasons, contexts and objectives behind their interactions with them. The project will focus on Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia and Bosnia & Herzegovina to investigate the impact of historical events (such as mass graves), the evolving religious landscape and social dynamics in rural communities.
Objective
Each from their own perspectives, various disciplines have shed light on the roles fulfilled by the dead in contemporary society. Their findings, however, remain compartmentalised, their insights scattered; a comprehensive understanding of their role in the lives of individuals is still missing. This project will benefit from the insights of each of them, with the aim to transform the current partial understandings into a complex view of the roles that the dead play in individuals’ lives. Instead of focusing exclusively on the role of personally significant dead for the bereaved or treating the dead as expression of “folk belief”, or metaphors of cultural and social problems and changes, the project will view the dead as being actively involved in the intricate relationships between individuals and larger social and cultural processes. The over-arching aim of DEAGENCY is to generate a new theory for comprehensively understanding the roles that the dead fulfil for individuals in contemporary society. This will be achieved through identifying: 1) the ways individuals experience and conceptualise the agency of the dead; 2) the reasons and contexts within which it is triggered; and 3) the aims and manners of interaction with the dead. To gain insight into the widest possible range of the roles of the agency of the dead in individuals’ lives, the project will study them within three disparate areas of social / cultural changes and problems, related to the post-socialist period: 1). the effects of the problematic political past (mass graves); 2). changing religious landscape; and 3). changing social life in rural communities. To access subjective experiences of individuals, the ethnographic method will be used in fieldwork conducted in Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. Through comparative analysis, common patterns transcending particular changes / problems and contexts will be identified, leading to the final synthesis: the generation of a new theory.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-ADG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.