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Norbert Elias’ civilisation theory
In his Über den Prozeß der Zivilisation (Civilisation Process - 1939) Norbert Elias
explores the relation between social processes and psychological structures.
His work has started to be discussed in the 1970s. In this article, major criticisms
directed against Elias’ work are analysed. The first criticism is that the
analysis of Elias is Eurocentric. He was accused of being Eurocentric on grounds
that he generalises the connection between the rise of self-control and the
emergence of the state as the monopoly of violence to all civilisation processes.
Another major criticism is that as Elias asserts that the social processes have a
certain direction, his analysis is deterministic and evolutionist. However, this
criticism is not relevant as the civilisation process is not unilinear and teleological.
Other criticisms related with the concept of civilisation, the thesis of relaxation,
the processes of distancing from the civilisation, and the gender relations
are mentioned as ingredients -whether they are right or wrong- necessary for
the development of Elias’ theory.