There is much still to learn about how to foster justice, enfranchisement, and resilience for the bereaved and those that support them when in times of global crisis. Research exploring the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted increased disenfranchised grief resulting from social distancing restrictions. However, as individual experiences of grief are grounded in political, cultural, historical, economic, religious, and social contexts, it is likely that cultural narratives, such as news media and government messaging, have also mediated grief during the pandemic.
This workshop will explore how powerful COVID-19 cultural narratives may have influenced individual experiences of disenfranchised grief, both for the bereaved and those that support them. We will consider the subtle power of necropolitics during the pandemic and examine how this exposed certain vulnerable populations to circumstances of slow violence and slow death, increasing mortality, eroding social solidarity, and creating further disenfranchisement. Throughout the workshop we will reflect on our own pandemic experiences, offering vital opportunities for discussion, increased understanding, empathy, and enfranchisement.
Course Content
Presenter
Kimberley is a person-centred counsellor primarily specialising in bereavement. While working with a local hospice during the pandemic, she noted an increase of disenfranchised grief in her client work. This experience inspired her to complete a research project that examined bereavement counsellors’ experiences of disenfranchised grief during COVID-19, which she was invited to present at the BACP Research Conference in May 2023. Kimberley’s professional interests include the areas of loss and grief, trauma, intersectional feminism, disability and inclusivity, justice, and enfranchisement.
