ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how the problems posed by Norbert Elias' theory are, essentially, of three types: those linked to the methodology used, those related to the limits imposed by the notion of self-constraint, and, those concerning the pacifying function attributed to sport. The problems posed by Elias' theory are not just a matter of the disputed and disputable choice of a restrictive definition of violence, or even a lack of definition of violence, limiting it to violence 'of the first circle'. In spite of the use of different and varied terms such as violence or aggressiveness and aggression, Elias chose to count and discuss its most extreme form: homicides. Talking about hooliganism, Elias and Eric Dunning thus associated violent behaviours to the 'normal' cultural functioning of members of the rough working class, who were supposedly less advanced in the civilising process.
