INTBUS 6 Lecture 3:
6 Oct 2020
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Document Summary
Norbert elias was a sociologist who lived in the 20th century and tried to explain the civilisation process of society, taking into account the co-evolution of individual and society throughout history (mennel, 1998). Central themes of his theory are the notions of rationalisation, self-control, external and internal restraints, interdependencies and shame. This monopoly of violence of the monarch meant that feudal lords were deprived of their soldiers and weapons and consequently more dependent on the king. However, this did not extinct social competition between the lords, which used to be demonstrated with fights for territory expansion. As they now neither had weapons nor soldiers, other means of competition had to be found, which were rationalisation and self-control. This means that the focus now shifted towards the behaviour of people and their conformity with manners, and the more civilised or self- controlled you are, the better your position in society.
