AIDS in the twenty-first century: Disease and globalization

guided by statistics. It concerns the intersection between religion and death, and what this might tell us about ourselves and our societies, and it succeeds admirably in this task. Most authors adopt theories to elucidate the social aspects of death, and religion’s role in this. Berger’s sacred canopy looms large, and Douglas Davies helpfully explains the role of theory and interpretation (p. 229). Terms which might perplex non-specialist readers have been unobtrusively glossed as they occur, and one senses a laudable editorial attention to detail, though some misplaced and repeated text occurs on p. 98 and on p. 298. I would have liked to know what a sand dollar is (Echinarachnius parma). Some authors use their data to challenge prevailing theories or models; Denis Kelley rejects the view that academics can identify ‘‘authentic’’ Native American practices, and posits the notion of a ‘‘reprise’’ rather than authenticity or continuity of tradition, while Tony Walter, who sees the media taking on the role of religions, bending narratives of tragedy into stories of hope (but regardless of the feelings of those closely involved), challenges (p. 280) the Giddens and Mellor/Shilling view that death has been sequestered. I wonder, however, if the strict self-censorship imposed by Western media outlets which seldom show damaged bodies is a kind of sequestration by propriety. Mark Elmore’s Hindus in Himachal Pradesh (p. 30) have a humorous approach to death, except when it actually happens and solemn ritual takes over. Surely the plethora of humorous synonyms for death in English (most of them rehearsed in the Monty Python ‘‘dead parrot’’ sketch) suggests that humour except in the face of death is not a particularly Hindu trait.