Norbert Elias
Sociologist who theorized civilizing and decivilizing processes.
Norbert Elias was a German-born sociologist who later became a British citizen, best known for his theory of civilizing and decivilizing processes. Born in 1897 in Breslau (present-day Wrocław) to a Jewish family—his father a textile businessman and his mother from the local Jewish community—Elias served as a telegrapher on both the Eastern and Western fronts during World War I before a nervous breakdown led to his reassignment as a medical orderly. He initially studied philosophy, psychology, and medicine at the University of Breslau, also attending lectures by Karl Jaspers in Heidelberg. After quitting medicine and financing his studies by managing an export department, he earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1924 under neo-Kantian Richard Hönigswald. Disillusioned by the lack of social focus in neo-Kantianism, he turned to sociology. During his Breslau years, Elias was deeply involved in the German Zionist movement and the youth group "Blau-Weiss," befriending figures like Erich Fromm and Leo Strauss. He moved to Heidelberg in 1925 to work on a habilitation about Florentine society and science, but later followed Karl Mannheim to Frankfurt as his assistant. After the Nazi takeover in 1933, his habilitation on court society was never formally accepted. Elias fled to Paris, supported by a scholarship, and then to Britain in 1935, where he wrote his magnum opus, *The Civilizing Process*. This work described the Nazi genocide as a "decivilizing spurt" and traced how historical changes in manners and etiquette shaped the modern, controlled body. During World War II, he was interned as an enemy alien for eight months, organizing lectures and staging a play. After release, he worked for British intelligence interrogating Nazi prisoners and taught adult education courses. He co-founded the Group Analytic Society with psychoanalyst S. H. Foulkes and trained as a group therapist. Naturalized as a British citizen in 1952, Elias finally secured his first stable academic post at age 57 at the University of Leicester, where he helped build a prominent sociology department.
- born
- 22 June 1897
- died
- 1 August 1990
- field
- Sociology
- nationality
- German, later British
- known_for
- Theory of civilizing/decivilizing processes, process or figurational sociology
Verified Timeline
Quick Facts
- Birth Date
- 22 June 1897
- Birth Place
- Breslau, Silesia Province, Prussia, German Empire / (now Wrocław, Poland)
- Death Date
- 1990-08-01
- Death Place
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Education
- Heidelberg University
- Field
- Sociology
- Known For
- Figurational sociology, theory of civilizing/decivilizing processes, habitus
- Doctoral Advisor
- Richard Hönigswald
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Norbert Elias was born on 22 June 1897 in Breslau (today: Wrocław) to Hermann Elias and Sophie Elias. After passing the abitur in 1915, he volunteered for the German army in World War I and was employed as a telegrapher, first at the Eastern front, then at the Western front. After suffering a nervous breakdown in 1917, he was declared unfit for service and was posted to Breslau as a medical orderly. The same year, Elias began studying philosophy, psychology and medicine at the University of Breslau. During his Breslau years, until 1925, Elias was deeply involved in the German Zionist movement, and acted as one of the leading intellectuals within the German-Jewish youth movement 'Blau-Weiss'. In 1933, Elias fled to Paris. In 1935, he moved on to Great Britain, where he worked on his magnum opus, The Civilizing Process, until 1939, supported by a scholarship from a relief organization for Jewish refugees. In 1940, when an invasion of Britain by German forces appeared imminent, Elias was detained at internment camps in Liverpool and on the Isle of Man for eight months, on account of his being German – an 'enemy alien'. On Febr. 22, 1952 he was naturalized as a British citizen.
Reader's Guide
Norbert Elias's significance lies in his development of process or figurational sociology, which focuses on the relationship between power, behavior, emotion, and knowledge over time. His concept of large social figurations or networks of interdependencies between people explains the emergence and function of large societal structures without neglecting the aspect of individual agency. In the 1960s and 1970s, the overemphasis of structure over agency was heavily criticized about the then-dominant school of structural functionalism. His theory of civilizing and decivilizing processes was applied to historical changes in manners and to events like the Nazi's genocide of the Jews, which he described as a 'decivilizing spurt' of a civilization suffering from decay and a regression to barbarism. Despite being a marginal author for decades, Elias was rediscovered by a new generation of scholars in the 1970s, when he eventually became one of the most influential sociologists in the history of the field. By 1998 an International Sociological Association worldwide survey of sociologists ranked 'On the Process of Civilization' seventh among the most important books in sociology in the twentieth century.
Did You Know?
- Elias served as a telegrapher in World War I at both the Eastern and Western fronts before suffering a nervous breakdown in 1917.
- During his internment on the Isle of Man in 1940, Elias organized political lectures and staged a drama he had written himself, 'Die Ballade vom armen Jakob', with a musical score by Hans Gál.
- Elias co-founded the Group Analytic Society in 1952 and trained and worked as a group therapist.
- He was the first ever laureate of both the Theodor W. Adorno Prize (1977) and the European Amalfi Prize for Sociology and Social Sciences (1987).
- In September 2017, a bridge in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam, not too far from where he lived, was named after him.
More in Political And Social Theorists 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record