Jonathan Fletcher

This work is a systematic English-language appraisal of the two central themes in the work of Norbert Elias - violence and civilization. Although Elias is best known for his theory of civilizing processes, this study highlights the crucial importance of the concept of de-civilizing processes. It also addresses several common misunderstandings of his approach as a whole. Elias's original synthesis of sociology and psychology is considered through an examination of several key texts, including "The Civilizing Process", "The Established and the Outsiders" and "The Germans". Fletcher shows how Elias constructs his "figurational models", and applies these comparatively to specific historical examples drawn from England and Germany. The concept of habitus is highlighted in Elias's work. Fletcher argues that while Elias did not develop a theory of de-civilizing processes, such a model is logically implied in his perspective and is highly pertinent to an understanding of the Nazi genocides. The book should be useful reading for anyone concerned with Elias's contribution or who is engaged in further developing his approach.… (mehr)