Norbert Elias

Lore & Background

Norbert Elias was born on 22 June 1897 in Breslau (now Wrocław) to a Jewish family. After serving as a telegrapher in World War I and suffering a nervous breakdown, he studied philosophy, psychology, and medicine at the University of Breslau, later turning to sociology. He was involved in the German Zionist movement and studied under Karl Mannheim before fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933 to Paris and then to Great Britain.

In Britain, Elias wrote his magnum opus, The Civilizing Process, which described the Nazi genocide as a 'decivilizing spurt.' He was interned as an enemy alien in 1940 but later worked for the British Army's Education Corps and as a researcher. After the war, he taught at the University of Leicester, co-founded the Group Analytic Society, and eventually gained his first secure academic post at age 57. He later taught at the University of Ghana and various European universities.

Reader's Guide

Elias's significance lies in his development of process or figurational sociology, which analyzes how large social structures emerge from networks of interdependencies between individuals without neglecting individual agency. His theory of civilizing processes, based on historical documents of manners and etiquette, traces the emergence of the modern self and the controlled body. Long marginalized, Elias was rediscovered in the 1970s and became one of the most influential sociologists. His work The Civilizing Process was ranked seventh among the most important sociology books of the twentieth century by an international survey. He received the Theodor W. Adorno Prize, the European Amalfi Prize, and the Große Verdienstkreuz of Germany. His legacy includes shaping the sociology department at Leicester and influencing subsequent scholars such as Anthony Giddens and John H. Goldthorpe.

Did You Know?

• Elias volunteered for the German army in World War I and served as a telegrapher on both the Eastern and Western fronts.
• He was interned for eight months in 1940 as an 'enemy alien' in Liverpool and on the Isle of Man.
• Elias co-founded the Group Analytic Society in 1952 and was involved in group analysis as a theorist and co-founder, not as a clinical practitioner.
• A bridge in Amsterdam's Vondelpark was named after him in September 2017.