The Sociology Book

180

T H E C I V I L I Z I N G

P R O C E S S I S

C O N S T A N T L Y M O V I N G

“ F O R W A R D ”

NORBERT ELIAS (1897–1990)

T

o shed light on the West’s

centralization of national

power and increasing

global domination over the last

500 years, Norbert Elias turned his

attention to the “psychical process

of civilization”—the changes in

behavior, feeling, and intentions of

people in the West since the Middle

Ages. He describes these changes,

and the effect they have had on

individuals, in his famous book

The Civilizing Process.

Elias draws on history,

sociology, and psychoanalysis to

conclude that the way in which

Western society believes itself to

be superior to others is summed

up by the concept of “civilization.”

This is both historical and

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

The civilizing process

KEY DATES

c.1500 Feudalism in Western

Europe comes to an end and

court society emerges.

1690 English philosopher

John Locke describes “civil

society” as a united body of

individuals under the power

of an executive.

1850s Auguste Comte

asks how the individual

can be both a cause and

consequence of society.

1958 Max Weber says values

and beliefs can cause dramatic

change in the social structure.

1962 US anthropologist

Robert Redfield says that

civilization is a totality of

great and little traditions.

1970s Antonio Gramsci says

the ruling classes maintain

their dominance through the

institutions of civil society.

As nations stabilized in the West after the 1500s,

power was centralized and became the preserve of

a small number of people.

These people were no longer revered for their

physical strength, but for their social standing,

reflected in their courtly manners.

To be identified with

power, people are encouraged

to display the same “civilized

behavior” as a nation’s

governing elite.

People (and nations)

lacking the right behavior

are seen as inferior and need

“civilizing” into following

the rules of the powerful.