A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #364 - Culture - Read Alban Beaudoin and Jean-Loup de Saint-Phalle, The Cost of Death: Social Security to the End (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

If the costs of giving birth to a human being must be covered by Social 
Security, why shouldn't those of death be? Alban Beaudoin and Jean-Loup 
de Saint-Phalle, founders of the collective For a Social Security for 
Death, defend this point of view in a book, The Cost of Death, and in 
their gesticulated lectures entitled A Dance of Death. ---- The book 
offers interesting reflections on the unequal situation when a loved one 
dies. Death, including all types of funerals, graves, burials, and 
cremations, is very expensive and is a means of social distinction (just 
look at the visible differences in a single cemetery). The afterlife 
carries with it the question of class. Meanwhile, funeral homes maintain 
the lucrative nature of death, caught up in the pursuit of profit and 
profitability imperatives. While grief is a universal pain, those who 
suffer most from social hardship, poverty, or ableism, are still those 
who, in proportion to their income, spend the most after the loss of a 
loved one.

The authors therefore speak of a "Social Security to the End" project, 
because since death is a part of life, why limit Social Security to 
existing branches? Following the project of a Social Security for Food 
that has been spreading for several years, a branch for death, also 
financed by social contributions, coupled with the socialization of 
funeral businesses, which should no longer be privately owned, could be 
a demand of our class. The idea is certainly gaining ground but is still 
far too little publicized. It is therefore up to us, activists, to speak 
out and debate the issue. This book, along with the collective's 
gesticulated lectures, provides a way to understand this issue, which 
speaks to everyone, in accessible language. We can also appreciate the 
emphasis given to the testimonies of bereaved loved ones, the responses 
provided by the authors, as well as the mythological references used as 
chapter titles to illustrate the subject: "Charon's Obol," "The Status 
of Anubis." Indeed, there is no culture, no people, that has not had to 
organize the issues related to death. In this regard, reference is made 
to certain organizational methods of ancient peoples where it would have 
been unthinkable for death to be a market. Current examples such as the 
city of Geneva also show that community-based care is not utopian. The 
experience of the Rennes funeral cooperative mentioned in our 
columns[1]is an example of a company that could be approved by the 
Social Security system for the dead.

Finally, the authors do not overlook the working conditions and demands 
of funeral workers. While class struggle is not very prevalent, it is 
not non-existent. A united front with the bereaved for popular control 
and socialization can be imagined.

Marius (UCL Toulouse)

Alban Beaudoin and Jean-Loup de Saint-Phalle, The Cost of Death: Social 
Security Until the End, 2025, Éditions du Détour, 139 pages, EUR14.90.

Validate

[1]"Read: Claire Richard and Louise Drul, The Rennes Funeral 
Cooperative: Our Dead Deserve Better," Alternative libertaire No. 361, 
June 2025.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lire-Alban-Beaudoin-et-Jean-Loup-de-Saint-Phalle-Le-cout-de-la-mort-La-Securite
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