Violence and Civilization

Jonothan Fletcher is currently a researcher in Brussels.

"Violence and Civilization is an outstanding book. It is both an extremely valuable addition to the small but growing literature on the work of Norbert Elias and, in its own right, a major contribution to our understanding of a subject central to contemporary social theory - violence." Stephen Mennell, University College Dublin "Violence and Civilization is a tour de force, a 'must' for the growing number of sociologists who are coming to recognize Norbert Elias as a twentieth-century 'great'. Elias has often been criticized on spurious grounds - for example, for neglecting Nazism and the Holocaust - but, by tackling head-on how Elias actually grappled with such issues, Jonathan Fletcher succeeds in developing a critique which merits serious consideration. He has produced a clear, well-written text which is nicely balanced between exposition and appraisal. Violence and Civilization will be invaluable for those who wish to take Elias's project further." Eric Dunning, University of Leicester"A valuable addition to the literature on Elias's 'configurational sociology', a study that allows deeper appreciation of Elias's fertile imagination." The Times Higher Educational Supplement"This book is a welcome addition to the small Elias literature. The book provides a clear and not uncritical assessment of Elias's remarkable capacity to capture social complexity as it relates to the inner lives of human beings. There are not many readers who will not find somewhere in this volume an insight which can be taken on board and used as a point for future reference. Few scholars have the knowledge or ability to even think of writing such a book." British Journal of Sociology

• Acknowledgements ix1 Introduction 12 Civilization, Habitus and Civilizing Processes 6The development of civilization as a concept 6Changes in social and individual habitus 10Socialization, aggression and shame 213 Violence, Habitus and State Formation 31Violence monopolies and pacification 31Linearity, development and evolution 39On the concepts of violence and civilization 454 Identity, Violence and Process Models 55Interdependence, social bonds and the we–I balance 55Established-outsider relations 70Criteria of civilizing and decivilizing processes 825 Social Habitus and Civilizing Processes in England 88State formation and pacification 89Public opinion and national ideals 96Sport and violence: the example of foxhunting 1076 Nationalism and Decivilizing Processes in Germany 116State formation and national identification 117Violence in the imperial establishment 123Violence in the Weimar Republic 1347 Genocide and Decivilizing Processes in Germany 148National ideals and the rise of the Nazis 148Mass murder and national we-identity 158Civilization, ‘modernity’ and decivilizing processes 1668 Elias on Violence, Civilization and Decivilization 176Notes 185References 197Index 209