What is sociology?

Politics & Social Sciences

ELIAS, Norbert

Social Sciences

Hutchinson

On Civilization, Power, and Knowledge: Selected Writings (Volume 1998) (Heritage of Sociology Series)

History

University of Chicago Press

Product Description \nNobert Elias (1897-1990) is among the great sociologists of the twentieth century. Born in Germany, Elias earned a doctorate in philosophy and then turned to sociology, working with Max Weber's younger brother, Alfred Weber, and with Karl Mannheim. He later fled the Nazi regime in 1935 and spent most of his life in Britain. He is best known for his book, 
The Civilizing Process, wherein he traces the subtle changes in manners among the European upper classes since the Middle Ages, and shows how those seemingly innocuous changes in etiquette reflected profound transformations of power relations in society. He later applied these insights to a wide range of subjects, from art and culture to the control of violence, the sociology of sports, the development of knowledge and the sciences, and the methodology of sociology.\nThis volume is a carefully chosen collection of Elias's most important writings and includes many of his most brilliant ideas. The development of Elias's thinking during the course of his long career is traced along with a discussion of how his work relates to other major sociologists and how the various selections are interconnected. The result is a consistent and stimulating look at one of sociology's founding thinkers.\nAmazon.com Review 
When a Roman man wished to marry, he bargained with the bride's family on the price, and the state had nothing to say about the matter. When he wished to divorce, he called a neighborhood meeting and announced his decision. If an Athenian athlete died in the course of a contest, he was declared the winner by default. If a French courtier wished to rise in social service, he or she needed to cultivate a skill for reading the constantly changing landscape of who was or was not in royal favor. Such data of everyday life fascinated the German historian Norbert Elias (1897-1990), who discusses these and other matters in this anthology of selections from books such as 
The Civilizing Process and 
The Society of Individuals. 
--Gregory McNamee 
 About the Author \nJohn Stone is professor of sociology and Chairman of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at George Mason University. 
Stephen Mennell is professor of sociology and Chairman of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Monash University, Australia.

This book contains Elias's broadest statement of the fundamentals of sociology, in important respects very different from the discipline as it is institutionalized today. In his vision, sociology is concerned with the whole course of the development of human society. Translated by Grace Morrissey, Stephen Mennell, and Edmund Jephcott. Edited by Artur Bogner, Katie Liston, and Stephen Mennell.

What Is Sociology

Columbia Univ. Pr.

What is Sociology? presents in concise and provocative form the major ideas of a seminal thinker whose work―spanning more than four decades―is only now gaining the recognition here it has long had in Germany and France. Unlike other post-war sociologists, Norbert Elias has always held the concept of historical development among his central concerns; his dynamic theories of the evolution of modern man have remedied the historical and epistemological shortcomings of structualism and ethno-methodology. What is Sociology? refines the arguments that were first found in Elias' massive work on the civilizing process, in which he formulated his major assertions about the interdependence of the making of modern man and modern society. It is Elias' contention that changes in personality structure―embodied in phenomena ranging from table manners and hygiene habits to rites of punishment and courtly love―inevitably reflect and mould patterns of control generated by new political and social instututions. Elias' rejection of a dichotomy between individual and society, and his use of psychoanalysis, political theory, and social history, help restore a fullness of resource to sociology.

What Is Sociology? (European Perspectives)

Columbia University Press

Looks at the social, economic, and political conditions in Europe from the rule of Charlemagne to the present and discusses the relationship of society and government

Power & Civility (The Civilizing Process, Vol. 2)

Pantheon

The classic study of the life of the nobility at the royal court of France, especially under Louis XIV. ""Recommended.""--Choice.

The court society

Pantheon Books

Looks at how social customs have changed from medieval times to the present and speculates on the social needs manners fulfill

The History of Manners (The Civilizing Process, Vol. 1)

"Mozart's need for love had grown uncertain of itself in early childhood. His feeling of being unloved found constant confirmation in his changing experiences over the years, and the intensity of his unsatisfied desire to be loved, detectable as a dominant wish throughout his life, very largely determined what had meaning for him and what did not."—From the book One of the most important social thinkers of our time provides a haunting portrait of Mozart's life and creative genius. German sociologist Norbert Elias examines the paradoxes in Mozart's short existence—his brilliant creativity and social marginality, his musical sophistication and personal crudeness, his breathtaking accomplishments and deep despair. Using psychoanalytic insights, Elias examines Leopold Mozart's carefully honed ambitions for his son and protege. From the age of six Mozart traveled with his father, performing in the major courts throughout Europe. The elder Mozart worked on his son "like a sculptor on his sculpture," and this deep bond formed the lietmotif in understanding Mozart's early talent and complicated psyche. Mozart chafed at the constraints of Viennese courtly culture. Growing up in a society which viewed musicians as manual laborers producing entertainment for the court, he fought for an independent livelihood. Vienna's aristocracy ultimately turned its back on the composer, who faced mounting debts, no work, and no prospect of fulfilling his innermost desires. He died feeling that his life had become empty of meaning. Elias ponders the concept of genius, which he sees as a complex marriage of fantasy, inspiration, and convention. In exploring the tension between personal creativity and the tastes of an era, he gives us a book of startling insight and discovery.

Mozart: Portrait of a Genius

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

University of California Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by ELIAS, Norbert. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by ELIAS, Norbert

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by ELIAS, Norbert. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

What is sociology?

On Civilization, Power, and Knowledge: Selected Writings (Volume 1998) (Heritage of Sociology Series)

On Civilization, Power, and Knowledge: Selected Writings (Volume 1998) (Heritage of Sociology Series)

What Is Sociology

What Is Sociology? (European Perspectives)

Power & Civility (The Civilizing Process, Vol. 2)

The court society

The History of Manners (The Civilizing Process, Vol. 1)

Power & Civility (The Civilizing Process, Vol. 2)

Mozart: Portrait of a Genius