Norbert Elias
German-British sociologist who traced the civilizing process and the dynamics of power in social figurations.
Most quoted
"The civilizing process is a transformation of human conduct and feeling in a specific direction: towards an increasing differentiation and refinement of behaviour, a heightened sensitivity to the feelings of others, and a more comprehensive and stable control over impulses."
— from The Civilizing Process, 1939
"The 'civilized' person is not necessarily a 'better' person, but a person whose emotional life is more differentiated and controlled."
— from The Civilizing Process, 1939
"The study of history is not merely a recounting of past events, but an attempt to understand the processes of social change."
— from Involvement and Detachment, 1987
All quotes by Norbert Elias (101)
The decline of the Middle Ages saw the rise of courtly manners.
Figurations are the key to understanding social processes.
The individual is always part of a larger whole.
Shame and embarrassment are civilizing emotions.
The state monopoly of violence is the foundation of modern society.
Knowledge is always involved and detached.
The civilizing process is never complete; it is ongoing.
Social constraints become self-constraints.
The court was the laboratory of civilization.
Humans are born unfinished and dependent.
The process of civilization is a double-edged sword: it brings control but also repression.
Sociology must study processes, not static structures.
The balance of power shapes human relations.
Memory is a social process.
The civilizing of emotions leads to greater foresight.
Individuals are both actors and products of society.
The loneliness of the dying is a modern phenomenon.
Civilization increases the threshold of repulsion.
The figurational approach reveals the unplanned nature of social change.
Court life refined the art of dissimulation.
Contemporaries of Norbert Elias
Other Sociologys born within 50 years of Norbert Elias (1897–1990).