Assistance in dying: Conditions for international comparison

Abstract

This special issue of Death Studies interrogates conditions for conducting international comparisons of assistance in dying regimes, and of related discourses and practices. To do so, it provides comparative social sciences and humanities perspectives on assistance in dying. In this editorial introduction, we first trace the origin of this special issue to the symposium held in 2018 in Lausanne, Switzerland. We then offer a short exploration of how assistance in dying regimes have been compared in the literature. Finally, we identify key conditions for conducting international comparisons of assistance in dying based on the articles presented in this issue of Death Studies.