Bloomsbury Norbert Elias and Modern Sociology: Knowledge, Interdependence, Power, Process

This book explores the interplay between the making of Elias as a sociologist and the development of his core ideas relating to figurations, interdependence, and civilising processes. Focusing on the relevance of Elias's work for current debates within sociology, the authors centrally consider his contributions to the sociology of knowledge and methodology. Dunning and Hughes locate the work of Elias within a discussion of the crisis of sociology as a subject, and compare his figurational approach with the approaches of three major figures in modern sociology: Anthony Giddens, Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu. This highly readable and engaging book will be essential reading for students and scholars of sociological theory and methods. Review 'This is an engagingly written book by two of the world's leading experts on the work of Norbert Elias. Focusing on Elias's sociology of knowledge they show how this might bring sociologists nearer to a cumulative theoretical and empirical science of human social relations. Indispensable.' --Ian Burkitt, Reader in Social Science, University of Bradford, UK 'Dunning and Hughes take no ideological prisoners and leave no theoretical stone unturned in this paean to the high seriousness of Norbert Elias's sociology of the human condition. This unique book blends personal reminiscences of the man himself with a nuanced account of his ideas and the life experiences that shaped them.' --Richard Kilminster, Honorary Research Fellow in Sociology, University of Leeds, UK About the Author Eric Dunning is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology, University of Leicester. He is one of two people ever to have co-published with Norbert Elias, and the only one surviving to this day. A pioneer in the sociology of sport, his recent publications include Sport, Critical Concepts in Sociology, and Norbert Elias: Sage Masters of Modern Social Thought, both four volumes (2003). Jason Hughes is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology, and Deputy Head of the School of Social Sciences at Brunel University. His first book, Learning to Smoke (2003), was awarded the 2006 European Norbert Elias prize. His more recent publications include two four volume reference works, Visual Methods and Internet Research Methods (both 2012).