Norbert Elias zur Einführung

The sociologist and cultural philosopher Norbert Elias (1897-1990) experienced one of the most unusual academic careers of the 20th century. It was not until 1976, at nearly eighty years old, that he achieved his major breakthrough with "The Civilizing Process," transforming from an outsider into one of the central theorists of the social sciences. Throughout his life, Elias did not see himself as a specialist, but rather as a generalist, a "social scientist." As early as the 1930s, he linked sociology, history, philosophy, and psychology into a comprehensive theory of social change. This fully revised new edition of the introduction provides an overview of Elias's life's work and explains his theory of civilization in the context of his thought.