Elias, Norbert

Elias's Critique of Sociology

The historical analysis of the emergence of the concept of civilization in Norbert Elias's work is underpinned by a complex three-sided theoretical strategy that emerges under his formulation of civilizing processes. Elias introduces the notion of civilizing processes as a corrective to three images and intellectual paradigms that have dominated the human and social sciences, whether they are imbedded in philosophy, sociology, or psychology. These three images and intellectual paradigms are methodological individualism, systems theoretic approaches, and units of analysis that place the emphasis on the investigation of the immediate present. Elias develops a three-dimensional counter-paradigm of civilizing processes that concentrates on the following aspects of human association: relational and power interdependence between social actors, which dissolves the distinction between individual and society; the interrelation between processes at the levels of social development and psychologically located drives and affects; and change and innovation over time. Before presenting Elias's paradigm of civilizing processes in more detail, it is worth presenting an outline of his critiques of the three images and intellectual paradigms mentioned above.

Epistemological individualism is formed on the basis of the position of an individual “I,” who either establishes for himself or herself the principles through which knowledge is formed (Descartes) or has these principles structured immanently within, often in an unknown way (Kant). In these cases of the philosophy of the subject, the principle remains the same: Knowledge, perceptions, or actions stem from an act of individual effort on the part of the social actor, who is perceived as a self-contained unit. Elias terms this image of self-sufficient containment “homo clausus” (Elias 1991:18, 196–202; 1994:xlii).

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