Norbert Elias Books

The book explores the intricate dynamics of life among the French nobility at the royal court during Louis XIV's reign. It reveals how courtiers became ensnared in a complex system of etiquette and ceremony, where their social standing dictated their expenses and lifestyle, often overriding personal wealth. This classic study sheds light on the interplay between rank and daily life in a lavish yet constraining environment, highlighting the challenges faced by both courtiers and the king himself.

Exploring the Individual vs. Society discourse, this collection features three pivotal essays by Norbert Elias, spanning from 1939 to 1987. Elias delves into the concept of individualization as a crucial aspect of socialization and civilizing processes across generations. He challenges the notion of a solitary self by introducing innovative ideas such as I-identity versus We-identity and the We-I balance, enriching the understanding of how individuals relate to society. This edition offers profound insights into the dynamics of identity and social interaction.

The writings in this volume previously unpublished in English include the essay 'On Seeing in Nature', his doctoral dissertation 'Idea and Individual', a response to Karl Mannheim's famous paper on cultural competition, and a number of short stories contributed to a newspaper. Other essays collected together here concern primitive art, the sociology of German anti-Semitism, kitsch style and the age of kitsch, and the expulsion of the Huguenots from France. This edition includes as an appendix a draft outline of Elias' Habilitation thesis begun under Alfred Weber. "Early Writings" have been translated from the German edition, Fruschriften, published by Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt/Main as volume 1 of the Norbert Elias Gesammelte Schriften, 2002.

The book delves into the dynamics of power and social hierarchy within two similar working-class groups in a 1960s community, illustrating how one group wielded power to marginalize the other through stigma and gossip. Elias extends this analysis into a broader theory of power relations, exploring its implications across various societal divisions, including class, ethnicity, and gender. Additionally, it features a posthumous essay inspired by Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," marking its debut in English.

The Civilizing Processd stands as Norbert Elias's greatest work, tracing the "civilizing" of manners and personality in Western Europe since the late Middle Ages, and showing how this was related to the formation of states and the monopolization of power within them.

Beginning with the author's celebrated study of the changing standards of behaviour of the secular upper classes in Western Europe since the Middle Ages, this title demonstrates how psychological changes in habitus and emotion management were linked to wider transformations in power relations.

By exploring problems of time one can find out a good deal about human beings and about oneself that was not properly understood before. Problems in sociology and the human sciences in general that were not clarified by previous theories now become accessible.

Examines the conflict between Mozart's personal creativity and the structure of the society in which he lived. Elias argues that Mozart's attempt to live as a freelance musician failed because the necessary conditions for such an existence had not yet been created.

The Established and the Outsiders by Norbert Elias explores the dynamics between established groups and outsiders, revealing insights into sociological issues like race, class, and gender relations. This edition features a new theoretical introduction and emphasizes the importance of micro-analysis in understanding social divisions and power dynamics. Essential for students and scholars in social theory and sociology.

Originally published in 1991 and now reissued by Continuum International, this book consists of three sections. The first, written in 1939, was either left out of Elias's most famous book, The Civilizing Process, or was written along with it. Part 2 was written between 1940 and 1960. Part 3 is from 1987. The entire book is a study of the unique relationship between the individual and society--Elias's best-known theme and the basis for the discipline of sociology.