Ancestors all around – millions of dead people linger in Americans’ memories

By Emily Smith-Greenaway, Dean's Professor of Sociology and Professor of Spatial Sciences, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Ashton Verdery, Professor of Sociology, Demography and Social Data Analytics, Penn State

Halloween kicks off a series of religious and cultural festivals to honor the dead, including All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day and the Day of the Dead. But deceased loved ones don’t disappear from people’s social worlds once the ghost and skeleton decorations come down.

Present in memory and tradition, the dead can shape people’s identities and behaviors long after they die. Recent survey data shows that almost…

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