The Civilizing Process

by Norbert Elias

The Civilizing Process stands out as Norbert Elias' greatest work, tracing the "civilizing" of manners and personality in Western Europe since the late Middle Ages by demonstrating how the formation of states and the monopolization of power within them changed Western society forever.

Genres: Sociology, History, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Anthropology, Politics, Social Science

592 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Norbert Elias was a German-Jewish sociologist who later became a British citizen, though he is often referred to as a Dutch thinker, and made his home in Amsterdam in his latter years.

Elias's theory focused on the relationship between power, behavior, emotion, and knowledge over time. He significantly shaped what is called process or figurational sociology. Due to historical circumstances, Elias had long remained a marginal author, until being rediscovered by a new generation of scholars in the 1970s, when he eventually became one of the most influential sociologists in the history of the field.

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Reviews

[Kakanier]

Märchenbuch. Wenn euch die Geschichte gefällt, könnt ihr's glauben. Die Wirklichkeit ist reicher als die Erzählung und der Autor hat erwiesenermaßen in zumindest einem Fall gegen sein eigenes besseres Wissen geschrieben. "Der Mythos vom Zivilisationsprozeß", geschrieben als Reaktion auf das Büchlein, von Dürr befasst sich ausführlich mit dieser Buntheit.