Manners and shame
Elias (1939/2000) traced stricter standards in manners books as external constraint became self-restraint, akin to habitus.
State formation
Monopolies of violence and taxation and long chains of interdependence demanded foresight; Elias and Dunning (1986) saw sport as controlled excitement. Compare self-control theory.
Evidence and critique
Eisner (2001) linked falling homicide to the theory and Pinker (2011) popularised it; critics cite twentieth-century atrocities and Eurocentrism. Wouters (1986) explained informalisation; Linklater and Mennell (2010) review debates.
FAQ
- What is it in simple terms?
- The long process by which people learned to control their impulses.
- Does it mean civilisation is superior?
- Elias meant changing standards, not superiority, though critics see Eurocentrism.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Elias, N. (2000). The civilizing process: Sociogenetic and psychogenetic investigations (Rev. ed.; E. Jephcott, Trans.). Blackwell. (Original work published 1939) The original work combining manners books and state-formation theory.
- Elias, N., & Dunning, E. (1986). Quest for excitement: Sport and leisure in the civilizing process. Blackwell. Applies the theory to sport as controlled excitement.
- Mennell, S. (1989). Norbert Elias: Civilization and the human self-image. Blackwell. An introduction explaining Elias's thought as a whole.
- Wouters, C. (1986). Formalization and informalization: Changing tension balances in civilizing processes. Theory, Culture & Society, 3(2), 1–18. Explains 20th-century informalisation as a development of the theory.
- Eisner, M. (2001). Modernization, self-control and lethal violence: The long-term dynamics of European homicide rates in theoretical perspective. British Journal of Criminology, 41(4), 618–638. Links the long-term fall in European homicide to the theory.
- Linklater, A., & Mennell, S. (2010). Norbert Elias, The civilizing process: Sociogenetic and psychogenetic investigations—An overview and assessment. History and Theory, 49(3), 384–411. An overview and assessment of the book and its critics.
- Pinker, S. (2011). The better angels of our nature: Why violence has declined. Viking. A popular book that made Elias central to the declining-violence debate.