The Civilizing Process is a book by German sociologist Norbert Elias. It is an influential work in sociology and Elias' most important work. It was first published in two volumes in 1939 in German as Über den Prozeß der Zivilisation. Because of World War II it was virtually ignored, but gained popularity when it was republished in 1969 and translated into English. Covering European history from roughly 800 AD to 1900 AD, it is the first formal analysis and theory of civilization.
The Civilizing Process is today regarded as the founding work of Figurational Sociology. In 1998 the International Sociological Association listed this work as the seventh most important sociological book of the 20th century.Continue Reading »
