The Civilizing Process: Sociogenetic and Psychogenetic Investigations

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.

Table of Contents:
Preface. Acknowledgements to the English Translation. Editors' Note to the Revised Translation. Volume I: Changes in the Behaviour of The Secular Upper Classes in the West:. Part I: On the Sociogenesis of the Concepts of "Civilisation" and "Culture":. 1. Sociogenesis of the Antithesis Between Kultur and Zivilization in German Usage. 1. Introduction. 2. The Development of the Antithesis Between Kultur and Zivilization. 3. Examples of Courtly Attitudes in Germany. 4. The Middle Class and the Court Nobility in Germany. 5. Literary Examples of the Relationship of the German Middle-Class Intelligentsia to the Court. 6. The Recession of the Social and the Advance of the National Element in the Antithesis Between Kultur and Zivilization. 2. Sociogenesis of the Concept of Civilisation in France. 7. Introduction. 8. Sociogenesis of Physiocratism and the French Reform Movement. Part II: Civilization as a Specific Transformation of Human Behaviour:. 9. The History of the Concept of Civilite. 10. On Medieval Manners. 11. The Problem of Change in Behaviour during the Renaissance. 12. On Behaviour at Table. 13. Changes in Attitude Towards the Natural Functions. 14. On Blowing One's Nose. 15. On Spitting. 16. On Behaviour in the Bedroom. 17. Changes in Attitude Towards the Relations Between Men and Women. 18. On Changes in Aggressiveness. 19. Scenes From the Life of a Knight. Volume II: State Formation and Civilization:. Part III: Feudalization and State Formation:. Introduction. 20. Survey of Courtly Society. 21. A Prospective Glance at the Sociogenesis of Absolutism. 1. Dynamics of Feudalization. 22. Introduction. 23. Centralizing and Decentralizing Forces in the Medieval Power Figuration. 24. The Increase in Population after the Migration. 25. Some Observations on the Sociogenesis of the Crusades. 26. The Internal Expansion of Society: The Formation of New Social Organs and Instruments. Preface. Acknowledgements to the English Translation. Editors' Note to the Revised Translation. Volume I: Changes in the Behaviour of The Secular Upper Classes in the West:. Part I: On the Sociogenesis of the Concepts of "Civilisation" and "Culture":. 1. Sociogenesis of the Antithesis Between Kultur and Zivilization in German Usage. 1. Introduction. 2. The Development of the Antithesis Between Kultur and Zivilization. 3. Examples of Courtly Attitudes in Germany. 4. The Middle Class and the Court Nobility in Germany. 5. Literary Examples of the Relationship of the German Middle-Class Intelligentsia to the Court. 6. The Recession of the Social and the Advance of the National Element in the Antithesis Between Kultur and Zivilization. 2. Sociogenesis of the Concept of Civilisation in France. 7. Introduction. 8. Sociogenesis of Physiocratism and the French Reform Movement. Part II: Civilization as a Specific Transformation of Human Behaviour:. 9. The History of the Concept of Civilite. 10. On Medieval Manners. 11. The Problem of Change in Behaviour during the Renaissance. 12. On Behaviour at Table. 13. Changes in Attitude Towards the Natural Functions. 14. On Blowing One's Nose. 15. On Spitting. 16. On Behaviour in the Bedroom. 17. Changes in Attitude Towards the Relations Between Men and Women. 18. On Changes in Aggressiveness. 19. Scenes From the Life of a Knight. Volume II: State Formation and Civilization:. Part III: Feudalization and State Formation:. Introduction. 20. Survey of Courtly Society. 21. A Prospective Glance at the Sociogenesis of Absolutism. 1. Dynamics of Feudalization. 22. Introduction. 23. Centralizing and Decentralizing Forces in the Medieval Power Figuration. 24. The Increase in Population after the Migration. 25. Some Observations on the Sociogenesis of the Crusades. 26. The Internal Expansion of Society: The Formation of New Social Organs and Instruments. 27. Some New Elements in the Structure of Medieval Society as Compared with Antiquity. 28. On the Sociogenesis of Feudalism. 29. On the Sociogenesis of Minnesang and Courtly Forms of Conduct. 2. On the Sociogenesis of the State. 30. The First Stage of the Rising Monarchy: Competition and Monopolization within a Territorial Framework. 31. Excursus on Some Differences in the Paths of Development of England, France and Germany. 32. On the Monopoly Mechanism. 33. Early Struggles within the Framework of the Kingdom. 34. The Resurgence of Centrifugal Tendencies: The Figuration of the Competing Princes. 35. The Last Stages of the Free Competitive Struggle and Establishment of the Final Monopoly Position of the Victor. 36. The Power Balance within the Unit of Rule: Its Significance for the Central Authority - the Formation of the "Royal Mechanism". 37. On the Sociogenesis of the Monopoly of Taxation. Part IV: Synopsis: Towards a Theory of Civilizing Processes:. 38. The Social Constraint Towards Self-Constraint. 39. Spread of the Pressure for Foresight and Self-constraint. 40. Diminishing Contrasts, Increasing Varieties. 41. The Courtization of Warriors. 42. The Muting of Drives: Psychologization and Rationalization. 43. Shame and Repugnance. 44. Increasing Constraints on the Upper Class: Increasing Pressure from Below. 45. Conclusion. Postscript (1968). Appendices. 46. Foreign Language and Originals of the Exemplary Extracts and Verses. 47. Plates from Das Mittelalterliche Hausbuch. Notes. Index.

About the Author :
Norbert Elias (1897-1990) taught at the University of Frankfurt until his exile from Hitler's Germany. In Britain, he worked at the Universities of London and Leicester, and in retirement was visiting professor in Ghana, Amsterdam, Munster, Bielefeld and many other universities. By the time of his death he was recognized as one of the outstanding social scientists of the twentieth century. His previous Blackwell books include: The Norbert Elias Reader, The Court Society, The Loneliness of the Dying, Involvement and Detachment, Time: An Essay, The Society of Individuals and, with Eric Dunning, Quest for Excitement.

Review :
"Without doubt the most important piece of historical sociology since Max Weber." Richard Sennett, London School of Economics. "A modern classic of the first order." Lewis Coser. "Elias has all the boldness and sureness of touch of the old masters, of whom he is perhaps the last. Reading his pages one again and again makes the mental note that this or that point is worthy of a Max Weber ... One realises from a book like this that serious sociology must remain dependent on the insightful interpretation of history of just the kind that Elias provides." Bryan Wilson. "The most remarkable recent attempt to contain the social and the individual within a unified scheme of sociological analysis." Philip Abrams "The Civilizing Process is remarkable: eclectic, insightful and constantly surprising." Times Higher Education Supplement