The American Civilizing ProcessISBN: 978-0-7456-3208-7
Hardcover
400 pages
October 2007, Polity
Other Available Formats: Paperback
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Theory and Society
"All in all, this is a book full of treasures that I would
recommend unreservedly."
Farhad Dalal, Group Analysis
"[A] work of immense scope, insight and erudition by a major
figure in sociology."
Andrew Linklater, International Affairs
"Guaranteed to be 'model setting' in its own right. All future
studies of civilising processes, which will hopefully include
analyses of such dynamics in rising powers such as China, India,
Brazil and so forth in the emerging post-Western international
system, can derive their bearings from this volume."
Figurations
"What makes Mennell's book exceptional is its theoretical
framework building on the elaborate theory of civilizing processes
developed by Norbert Elias (1897-1990), who elaborated his theory
on European state-formation processes."
Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft
Irish Journal of American Studies
"Mennell has robustly put the American processes of civilization
through the demands of Elias-ian analysis."
Prometheus
"Mennell is the best expositor of the pattern of American
geopolitics, along with British military historian John
Keegan’s Fields of Battle."
European Journal of Sociology
"A very fine book indeed: a triumphant vindication of the
capacity of Elias's thesis to illuminate huge tracts of American
history and at the same time a highly original and independent work
which never follows the master slavishly but maintains its
intellectual independence, recognising the difficulties which
Elias's theories sometimes raise, and abounding in fresh insights
of its own. It is also beautifully lucid and agreeably
unpretentious in tone."
Sir Keith Thomas, All Souls College, Oxford
"Written in a beautifully lucid and lively style, this book
should be read by all who seek to understand a fascinating as well
as important country."
John A. Thompson, St Catharine's College,
Cambridge
"This is a book that is long overdue. Norbert Elias pioneered
analysis of the civilizing process that helped make modern Europe.
But just how much America is distinct has been both historically
contested and conceptually unclear. Stephen Mennell brings
considerable insight in this thoughtful reconsideration of the
American story in light of Elias’s originally European
framework."
Craig Calhoun, New York University
"Stephen Mennell, an outstanding disciple of the great
sociologist Norbert Elias, employs the latter's insights to look at
the USA. Using the idea of state-formation along with that of the
civilizing process, the result is a wide-ranging treatment of the
sole contemporary superpower that has both scholarly merit and an
enormous relevance to the present moment. Filled with insights,
combining theory and empirical observations, and offering a
judicious comparison with other countries of America and its claim
to exceptionalism, the result is a splendid contribution to
history, sociology and international relations."
Bruce Mazlish, MIT