Reversing the past: Monuments for stillborn children

Abstract

In the Netherlands, since the year 2000, over 150 monuments have been established for stillborn children. Drawing on theory-based direct observation of the related death rituals, interviews with the main actors and an analysis of the monuments, this article discusses the role of these monuments in the struggle over the social identity of stillborn children. The significance of the monuments, it will be argued, is to be found in changing perspectives on the social identity and personhood of the unborn child. This article suggests that monuments for stillborn children are a basis for the discussion of former and present ideas concerning stillbirth. Moreover, the monuments effect the social integration of stillborn children into the worlds of both the living and the dead.