MACMILLAN Norbert Elias in Troubled Times: Figurational Approaches to the Problems of the Twenty-First Century (Palgrave Studies on Norbert Elias)

This edited collection brings together texts that discuss current major issues in our troubled times through the lens of Norbert Elias’s sociology. It sheds light on both the contemporary world and some of Elias’s most controversial concepts. Through examination of the ‘current affairs’, political and social contemporary changes, the authors in this collection present new and challenging ways of understanding these social processes and figurations. Ultimately, the objective of the book is to embrace and utilise some of the more polemical aspects of Elias’s legacy, such as the exploration of decivilizing processes, decivilizing spurts, and dys-civilization. It investigates to what extent Elias’s sociological analyses are still applicable in our studies of the developments that mark our troubled times. It does so through both global and local lenses, theoretically and empirically, and above all, by connecting past, present, and possible futures of all human societies. Review  “Beautifully written, this book engages thoughtfully with current issues within a solid understanding of their historical background. It covers a hugely impressive range of topics, developing an innovative mobilisation of Elias’s sociological perspective that will underpin a wide variety of new research efforts. In a world becoming increasingly interdependent and complex, this book provides an essential guide to developing the kind of understanding of the world in which we live required for a genuinely democratic politics.” --Robert van Krieken, Emeritus Professor, The University of Sydney, Australia  “Over thirty years ago Norbert Elias emphasised that rising levels of human interconnectedness had increased the subjection of individuals to global processes over which they had little or no control. Citing his comment, the editors of this excellent volume stress the continuing validity of that observation in the present era. They have brought together a stellar cast of international scholars to reconsider and extend Elias's analysis of the social and political integration of human societies. Readers will encounter in this volume an unusually wide-ranging collection of innovative papers that revisit core Eliasian ideas, provide new insights into violence and war, and explore through diverse empirical cases the classical analysis of relations between established groups and outsiders. The result is an inventive study which is essential reading for students of the endlessly surprising consequences and challenges of the global integration of modern societies.”  --Andrew Linklater, Emeritus Professor of International Politics, Aberystwyth University, UK From the Back Cover “Beautifully written, this book engages thoughtfully with current issues within a solid understanding of their historical background. It covers a hugely impressive range of topics, developing an innovative mobilisation of Elias’s sociological perspective that will underpin a wide variety of new research efforts. In a world becoming increasingly interdependent and complex, this book provides an essential guide to developing the kind of understanding of the world in which we live required for a genuinely democratic politics.” --Robert van Krieken, Emeritus Professor, The University of Sydney, Australia “Readers will encounter in this volume an unusually wide-ranging collection of innovative papers that revisit core Eliasian ideas, provide new insights into violence and war, and explore through diverse empirical cases the classical analysis of relations between established groups and outsiders. The result is an inventive study which is essential reading for students of the endlessly surprising consequences and challenges of the global integration of modern societies.”  --Andrew Linklater, Emeritus Professor of International Politics, Aberystwyth University, UK This edited collection brings together texts that discuss current major issues in o