Violence and Civilization: An Introduction to the Work of Norbert Elias

Acknowledgements ix

1 Introduction 1

2 Civilization, Habitus and Civilizing Processes 6

The development of civilization as a concept 6

Changes in social and individual habitus 10

Socialization, aggression and shame 21

3 Violence, Habitus and State Formation 31

Violence monopolies and pacification 31

Linearity, development and evolution 39

On the concepts of violence and civilization 45

4 Identity, Violence and Process Models 55

Interdependence, social bonds and the we–I balance 55

Established-outsider relations 70

Criteria of civilizing and decivilizing processes 82

5 Social Habitus and Civilizing Processes in England 88

State formation and pacification 89

Public opinion and national ideals 96

Sport and violence: the example of foxhunting 107

6 Nationalism and Decivilizing Processes in Germany 116

State formation and national identification 117

Violence in the imperial establishment 123

Violence in the Weimar Republic 134

7 Genocide and Decivilizing Processes in Germany 148

National ideals and the rise of the Nazis 148

Mass murder and national we-identity 158

Civilization, ‘modernity’ and decivilizing processes 166

8 Elias on Violence, Civilization and Decivilization 176

Notes 185

References 197

Index 209