Learning from Cemetery Managers About Citizen–State Encounters and Emotional Labor

• Author: Staci M. Zavattaro,Mary Ellen Guy
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0160323X221109456
• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Date: 01 December 2022
• Subject Matter: Research Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323X221109456

State and Local Government Review

2022, Vol. 54(4) 328 –345

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/0160323X221109456

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Research Article

1137322SLGXXX10.1177/0160323X221109456State and Local Government ReviewZavattaro and Guy

research-article2022

Learning from Cemetery

Managers About Citizen–State

Encounters and Emotional Labor

Staci M. Zavattaro

1

and Mary Ellen Guy

2

Abstract

Using stories from cemetery managers to make the case, this paper f‌irst argues that the emotive

component in the citizen-state encounter is as essential, if not more essential, than its cognitive

component. This is because emotion creates lasting impressions that are positive or negative. To

advance theory building, a holistic framework of the citizen-state encounter is then presented.

Data to inform the model were collected through interviews with 35 U.S. municipal cemetery man-

agers, an essential administrative function in local governments. The resulting holistic framework

incorporates both affective and cognitive dimensions and accentuates how public off‌icials are the

nerve endings of public policy, connecting with the public and bringing government to life.

Hypotheses are suggested for testing the model.

Keywords

citizen-state encounter, emotional labor, emotional intelligence, public management, cemetery

management

“I cry. I have goosebumps right this second. I call

my husband, and I’m bawling. I didn’t know that

that was going to be part of my job, and it’s

become more of my job since I’ve worked

here.”–Parks and recreation assistant oversee-

ing cemetery management

Physically, cemeteries stand out in a neigh-

borhood –grand gates, manicured lawns, lush

trees and landscaping, and intricate memorial

stones. As part of a community’s infrastructure,

they are cultural spaces simultaneously serving

the living and the dead. Amidst a quiet land-

scape, cemeteries are sites of mourning,

memory, collective history, and reverie. While

many are privately owned and operated, govern-

ment regulates all of them and many, if not

most, jurisdictions have a government-owned

and managed cemetery.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a

theory of the holistic citizen-state encounter

that embraces both its cognitive and affective

dimensions. We draw upon experiences of

those responsible for managing public cemeter-

ies, often someone who works in Property

Management (New Orleans, LA), General

Services (Charlotte, NC), Cemetery

Department (Jacksonville, IL), Parks &

Recreation (Wichita, KS), Public Works

(Pawtucket, RI), or the U.S. Department of

1

University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

2

University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA

Corresponding Author:

Staci M. Zavattaro, University of Central Florida, 528 W

Livingston St, Orlando, FL, 32801, USA.

Email: staci.zavattaro@ucf.edu

Zavattaro and Guy 329

Veterans Affairs. While it may seem novel to

focus on the experiences of cemetery managers

to illuminate the citizen-state encounter,

1

their

work is elemental to the human experience, is

conducted in cities across the nation, and is as

fundamental to city management as streets and

sewers. It also is a job that brings off‌icials

face-to-face with the public, usually during

mourning.

The approach offered here takes its cue from

Guy (2022), who encourages deeper under-

standing of the role emotions play in the citizen-

state encounter, and Hand and Catlaw (2019)

who promote inquiry into the relational pro-

cesses in such encounters. The feelings a

person takes away from the interaction do

more to change the perception and narrative of

government than a cognitive impression alone

(Guy 2022; Hansen 2021). Focusing on the

how of the encounter provides insight by

opening the black box that exists between

citizen and state (Hand and Catlaw 2019). The

result is twofold, revealing how emotive and

cognitive components intertwine, and the

effect this has on performance outcomes.

Using data drawn from interviews with ceme-

tery managers, we develop a theoretical frame-

work that intertwines emotion and cognition.

We include emotive aspects of the encounter

because feelings are crucial in effective public

service delivery. Awasthi and Mastracci

(2021) remind us that feelings are a kind of

embodied knowledge and emotive practices

are elemental human responses that become

even more important as the f‌ield utilizes more

technicist procedures.

Cemetery Managers as

Interlocutors of the State

Cemeteries are cultural spaces that serve the

living by preserving memories of the dead.

Not much is written about them in public man-

agement literature, but they are as much a

f‌ixture in communities as lampposts and

parks. Cemeteries are designated burial areas

and were established to have a place to put

corpses to prevent the spread of disease (Rugg

1998). Notwithstanding the macabre, cemeter-

ies ref‌lect political and cultural values by

being tangible expressions of community

(Swensen and Brendalsmo 2018). Their public-

ness ref‌lects cultural values surrounding indi-

vidual worth, status hierarchies, and

preservation of the past. The social, cultural,

economic, and racial disparities that linger in

life are manifested in death by the positioning

of burial plots (Longoria 2014).

What makes a cemetery a cemetery? They are

plots of land with unique features and character-

istics. First, they are usually located away from a

city’s central core. Second, their boundaries –

often by fencing, gating, or walls –separate

them from the surrounding community. The bar-

riers are physical and symbolic to denote a place

of reverence and respect. Third, cemeteries are

spaces to memorialize the dead with burial

plots organized in a way that allows families to

exercise control over grave spaces. Dedicated

gravesites facilitate funerary rituals as directed

by the family. While treated as sacred spaces,

public cemeteries are secular, serving the

whole community (Rugg 2000).

In the U.S., the Mount Auburn Cemetery in

Cambridge, Massachusetts is credited as the

nation’sf‌irst public cemetery situated away

from a home or religious site (U.S. National

Park Service 2020). Established in 1831, it led to

a proliferation of city-owned and operated burial

spaces. Before this, burial was close to home,

taking place on family homesteads or church

graveyards. As Eggener (2010, 4) points out, cem-

eteries are liminal sites “poised between past and

future, life and death, material and spiritual.”

Combining aesthetic, social, and metaphysical

beliefs, they institutionalize a sense of shared com-

munity and connection to place.

While there are no data to indicate the exact

number of municipal cemeteries in the U.S.,

they are one type of burial ground. Some cem-

eteries are privately owned, and the federal gov-

ernment operates veterans cemeteries often as

public parks. One estimate indicates there are

approximately 20,272 registered cemeteries in

the U.S. (Perfect Memorials 2022). As the

world’s population grows, as urban areas

become more dense, and sprawl spreads from

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