Photograph by Hermann Korte
News
- Twentieth Anniversary of Elias's Death
- Podcast
Norbert Elias died on 1 August 1990. To mark the twentieth anniversary, the German radio... [read more]
- Just published: Norbert Elias, Mozart and Other Essays on Courtly Art
Norbert Elias, Mozart and Other Essays on Courtly Art, edited by Eric R. Baker and... [read more]
Norbert Elias
Only late in his long life did Norbert Elias (1897–1990) achieve intellectual celebrity, but since his death he has been recognised as one of the greatest sociologists of the twentieth century. He is most famous for his theory of civilising processes, but his ambitious vision for the scope of the social sciences extended to the whole development of human society from its earliest origins, including the long-term growth of knowledge and the sciences.
His writings extend to such diverse topics as violence, sport, ageing and dying, time, work, art, poetry, utopias and the relations between the sexes. He likened networks of interdependent human beings - 'figurations' as he called them - to a dance: in constant flux yet structured. His approach has come to be known as ‘figurational sociology’, or more generally – because its appeal is far wider than professional sociologists alone – figurational studies.
Norbert Elias Foundation
The Norbert Elias Foundation was established in 1983 on the initiative of Norbert Elias himself, its aim being to stimulate research in the social sciences, especially in light of his own broad vision for them. When Elias died on 1 August 1990, the Foundation was his sole legatee, thereby inheriting the copyrights on his published works and unpublished manuscripts.
The present members of the Board of the Foundation are Johan Goudsblom, Hermann Korte and Stephen Mennell.
The Collected Works of Norbert Elias in English are being published on behalf of the Foundation by UCD Press. Suhrkamp Verlag have now completed the publication of the Gesammelte Schriften, and Selected Works in Dutch are also being published.
The Foundation supports and promotes the now-worldwide interdisciplinary Figurational Research Network, publishes the twice yearly research newsletter Figurations, organises conferences, supports the Norbert Elias Chair at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, and every two years awards the Norbert Elias Prize for the best first book written by a social scientist.