Stephen Mennell

Norbert Elias : civilization and the human self-image

Norbert Elias - A Determined Life in Uncertain Times The Civilising Process Manners States and Courts The Civilising Process Overall - Sociogenesis and Psychogenesis Extensions Established/Outsider Relationships and Functional Democratisation Sport and Violence Involvement and Detachment - A Theory of Knowledge and the Sciences The Development of the Social Sciences Humanity as a Whole Civilization and Decivilization Some Principles of Process Sociology.

Elias on Germany, Nazism and the Holocaust : on the balance between civilizing and decivilizing trends in the social development of Western Europe

This paper deals with aspects of the work of Elias: how he dealt with the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust, and how they fit into the general context of his theory of «civilizing processes». In response to critics such as Zygmunt Bauman and Ian Burkitt, the authors seek to clarify what Elias argued in his theory; and to show how, particularly in his book on «The Germans», Elias was able, using this theory, to shed light on the origins and growth of Nazism and its consequences for Germany and the world at large

Sociological theory : uses and unities

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Ill Met in Ghana: Jack Goody and Norbert Elias on Process and Progress in Africa

In recent years, Sir Jack Goody has published a series of essays (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006: 154—79) criticizing Norbert Elias’s theory of ‘civilizing processes’. In all of them, Goody — himself a West African specialist — makes clear that his disagreement with Elias dates back to their acquaintance in Ghana. The date is highly significant for it is unlikely that Goody’s opinions of Elias’s ideas were initially formed by his reading of Elias’s publications. There were also important differences between them in their approaches to theories of long-term social development. Despite appearances to the contrary, Elias and Goody have in fact much in common intellectually. Goody is one of the most historically orientated of anthropologists, and many points of contact with Elias are evident in his work on literacy (1968, 1987), food (1982), or The Domestication of the Savage Mind (1977). Both swam against the ahistorical current of their respective disciplines and both rejected the old notion of ‘progress’. Elias’s fault is that occasionally his formulations may appear to give the opposite impression. Goody’s fault, perhaps, is that — in spite of his own historical perspective — under any model of a structured process he suspects there lurks a vision of progress and of European superiority.

Civilizing Processes—Myth or Reality? A Comment on Duerr's Critique of Elias

It is a great tribute to the late Norbert Elias that Hans-Peter Duerr has embarked upon a four-volume critique, Der Mythos vom Zivilisationsprozess , of Eliass original two volumes of The Civilizing Process (recently reissued in a single-volume edition). Duerrs volumes may initiate a major intellectual debate and thus lead to the wider recognition of the importance of Elias—whom Duerr himself rates as “perhaps the most influential and stimulating sociologist of the second half of the twentieth century” (Duerr, vol. 3:11). Space does not permit us to examine here the wealth of empirical detail which Duerr deploys, so we shall concentrate on discussing the main theoretical issues at stake. We cannot help noticing, however, a certain double standard in his handling of evidence. Duerr is a very severe judge of the way that Norbert Elias handles his historical evidence in documenting medieval customs and sensitivities, and his keen eye in this regard is to be applauded. However, whereas every item used by Elias to support his point of view is subjected to extremely rigorous criticism, all the items that can be used to contest Eliass views are accepted at face value.

Elias and the counter-ego: personal recollections

Norbert Elias (1897–1990) achieved international recognition as a major sociologist only towards the end of his long life. As a German Jewish refugee in England, he did not even gain a secure academic post (at the University of Leicester) until he was 57. Apart from his magnum opus, Über den Prozess der Zivilisation [The Civilizing Process], which was published obscurely in 1939, all his other books and most of his essays were published after his formal retirement. These personal recollections date from that last highly productive part of his life, when he gradually attracted an extensive international following. They depict his foibles, some endearing, some that seemed perversely to stand in the way of his growing reputation.

Prohibition: a Sociological View

Prohibition was a fascinating episode in American history which has attracted the attention of a number of writers. This paper does not seek to present any new historical evidence. Perhaps, in history as well as in photography, over-enlargement can lead to loss of definition, so the object is to assess what evidence is appropriate in answering various questions about Prohibition.

The Contribution of Eric Dunning to the Sociology of Sport: The Foundations

Eric Dunning and Norbert Elias were both keen sportsmen from their respective youths, but it was their meeting at the University of Leicester that arguably turned both of them into sociologists of sport. This essay recounts the beginning of their contributions to the field, stressing the indissoluble links between their writings on sport, the theory of civilizing processes, and what came to be know as ‘figurational sociology’. It concludes by emphasizing that Dunnings writings have not been confined to the sociology of sport, but also include major contributions to sociological theory – notably his early debates with John Goldthorpe over the ‘convergence thesis’, Popper, and developmental sociology – and to the study of race relations.

Handing over the torch: intergenerational processes in figurational sociology

This collection of essays is designed to show how the various concepts of Norbert Eliass writings fit together in an overall vision for sociology, and how this has come to inspire the wide-ranging and interdisciplinary research tradition of ‘figurational’ sociology. In this introduction, we focus on a somewhat neglected aspect of Eliass work, the concept of generation. We explore his role as a teacher, passing the torch to a first generation of scholars, mainly in Europe, examining his generosity to younger colleagues as well as some of his well-known foibles. We then trace his influence in the emergence of a second generation that is more far-flung, both internationally and across disciplines.

What economists forgot (and what Wall Street and the City never learned) A sociological perspective on the crisis in economics

The article presents a figurational sociological perspective on the recent history of the discipline of economics in the wake of the global financial crisis or ‘Great Recession’ that began in 2007–8. It is argued that the orthodox mainstream of economics has provided ideological cover for abstract individualism, for short-term greed, and for the denial of the wider social responsibilities of business and finance. The faith in ‘free markets’ has been associated with a blindness to power relationships and an indifference to economic inequality. Orthodox economics is congruent with the mythical American Dream. The article draws upon the writings of Norbert Elias to reflect upon economics, and then in turn uses those reflections to raise some questions about Elias’s theories, particularly his ideas concerning functional democratization and increasing pressures towards more habitual foresight.