ABSTRACT
Norbert Elias is ‘best known for his theory of ‘civilising processes’, although his writings are wide-ranging and amount to a quite distinctive perspective on the discipline of sociology as a whole-a perspective sometimes known as ‘figurational sociology’. The courtly ethos of self-control, Elias argues, is reflected in the literature, drama and even in the French formal gardens of the period. Elias’ principal sources were French, German, Italian and English manners books from the Middle Ages to the mid-nineteenth century. In earlier centuries these basic matters of behaviour-discussion of which would later cause embarrassment, or at least the humorous sensation of a taboo having been broken-were spoken of openly and frankly, without shame. Elias produces evidence to show that this long-term civilising process cannot be explained away by rising levels of material prosperity or by advances in scientific knowledge of health and hygiene.
