Norbert Elias (1897-1990) is now widely regarded as one of the greatest sociologists of the 20th century. Some have suggested that in time, he will be regarded as the Copernicus or Darwin of sociology, the man who set the subject on its scientific course. These four volumes provide a comprehensive and penetrating survey of Elias's life and work. They pinpoint the main fields of research which Elias and his followers have explored. The volumes successfully locate the work of Elias and his followers in the context of modern sociology, especially in relation to writers such as Mannheim, Adorno, Parsons, Goffman, Foucault and Bourdieu. In the penetrating, introduction, Dunning and Mennell elucidate Elias's sociological contributions and the bearing his life-experiences had on his work. The collection is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the sociological contribution of Norbert Elias. The collection is organized in four volumes: Volume 1 focuses on Elias's work in the context of his life and career, and reviews his place in the contemporary social sciences, especially in relation to such figures as Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu.
Volume 2 addresses Elias's major empirically-based contributions to sociological theory, especially the theories of the civilizing process, state formation and established-outsider figurations. Volume 3 examines figurational contributions to such special areas of sociology as the sociology of the body, the sociology of the emotions, the sociology of everyday life, sport, leisure, lifestyles, taste, music and the arts; deviance and crime; the sociology of health and illness; psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and psychology; death and dying; drugs and tobacco use. Volume 4 focuses on criticisms of Elias's work and the responses of Elias and his sociological followers. Key themes are civilization and the Holocaust; sports violence, especially soccer hooliganism; the meanings and value of concepts like 'development', 'evolution' and 'change'; and the relative merits of long-term and short-term approaches. The end of the volume returns to the issue of Elias's place in contemporary sociology and the growing worldwide recognition of the significance of his contribution.