| The Politics of Intimacy: Rethinking the End-of-Life Controversy Debates on the end-of-life controversy are complex because they seem to highjack national and cultural traditions. Where previous books have focused on ideological grounds, The Politics of Intimacy explores dying as the site where policies are negotiated and implemented. Intimacy comprises the emotional experience of the end of life and how we acknowledge it--or not--through institutions. This process shows that end-of-life controversy relies on the conflict between the individual and these institutions, a relationship that is the cornerstone of Western liberal democracies. Anna Durnová is Senior Researcher in Techno-Science and Societal Transformation at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna and Faculty Fellow of Yale University's Center for Cultural Sociology. |