Relational and Affective Regulation of Ecological Body Disposition in Flanders, Belgium

• In Event: Science, Knowledge & Technology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 7: Meaning-making: morals, ethics, and affect

Abstract

This article examines social acceptance of two emerging ecological body disposition techniques, aquamation and humusation, in Flanders, Belgium, and analyzes the normative mechanisms structuring support and reluctance. While ecological transition increasingly extends into domains historically governed by ritual and religious authority, legitimacy in the field of body disposal remains contingent on moral regulation. Drawing on a representative survey of 2,698 Flemish residents collected in 2025, we assess familiarity, attitudes, and willingness to consider aquamation and humusation if legalized, and examine how these evaluations relate to socio-demographic characteristics, religiosity, and environmental attitudes.
Results show moderate openness combined with substantial uncertainty. Although pro-environmental attitudes are positively associated with familiarity and support for both techniques, ecological considerations are not decisive. Relational factors, such as the anticipated wishes and comfort of loved ones, and affective responses, particularly diffuse discomfort, weigh more heavily than religious or traditional objections. Explicit doctrinal resistance is limited, whereas embodied unease and relational anticipation emerge as central mechanisms of evaluation.
Importantly, the two techniques are not assessed identically. Aquamation, which symbolically resembles cremation, receives more moderate and pragmatic consideration. Humusation, involving bodily decomposition and soil integration, evokes stronger affective reactions and greater reluctance. These differences suggest that ecological innovation in morally saturated domains depends less on environmental performance per se than on symbolic continuity with established practices.
We argue that moral governance in late modern societies has not eroded but has shifted from transcendent traditional authority toward relational coordination and affective evaluation. Ecological funeral innovation thus unfolds within reconfigured regimes of moral authority, where legitimacy hinges on dignity, bodily integrity, and anticipated social recognition rather than on ecological efficiency alone.

Author

• Sarah Van de Velde, University of Antwerp