Norbert Elias and Modern Sociology: Knowledge, Interdependence, Power, Process

Description

This book explores the interplay between the making of Elias as a sociologist and the development of his core ideas relating to figurations, interdependence, and civilising processes. Focusing on the relevance of Elias's work for current debates within sociology, the authors centrally consider his contributions to the sociology of knowledge and methodology. Dunning and Hughes locate the work of Elias within a discussion of the crisis of sociology as a subject, and compare his figurational approach with the approaches of three major figures in modern sociology: Anthony Giddens, Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu. This highly readable and engaging book will be essential reading for students and scholars of sociological theory and methods. Cover Half-Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgements Introduction: Sociology and its Discontents The sociological 'crisis' Sociology and its discontents: Critical and political investments in knowledge 1 Working with Elias Norbert Elias: A brief biography and some autobiographical insertions Elias at Leicester Elias, Ghana, and British anthropology Elias's return to continental Europe Recognition and dissemination 2 Some Basic Concepts of Figurational Sociology Human figurations Homo clausus and homines aperti: Between the Scylla and Charybdis Established-outsider figurations and Elias's theory of power Time and history in the work of Elias History and sociology Elias as a radical sociologist 3 Elias's 'Central Theory' Western 'civilising processes' and some of their major variations Elias's central problem The sociogenesis of the concepts of 'civilisation' and 'culture' 'Civilisation' as a specific transformation of human behaviour 'Courtesy', 'civility' and 'civilisation' as stages in a process Selected examples of 'the courtesy', 'civility' and 'civilisational' codes Thirteenth century Fifteenth century Sixteenth century Seventeenth century Eighteenth century Nineteenth century Elias's use of literary and other sources State-formation and the lengthening of interdependency chains: the 'macro-social' levels of 'civilising processes' in the West Social processes: Unilinear or multilinear? The theory of 'civilising processes: A 'eurocentric' theory? 4 The Development of Knowledge and the Sciences as Social Processes The primacy of process On the concepts of 'process' and 'development' Knowledge and the sciences On sociology as a 'science' 'Reality congruence' 5 Problems of Method and Values in the Development of Sociological Knowledge Involvement and detachment and the problem of 'values' 'Methodology', 'epistemology', 'ontology', and the problem of method Sociology and historical analysis 'Involved detachment'? 6 Elias and 'The Habits of Good Sociology' Elias: Established and outsider? Key issues and controversies Elias and contemporary sociology Giddens and Elias Foucault and Elias Elias and Bourdieu Conclusion: A Relational 'Turn'? The Future Prospects of Figurational Sociology Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Z