Norbert Elias

Few sociologists of the first rank have scandalised the academic world to the extent that Elias did. Developed out of the German sociology of knowledge in the 1920s, Elias's sociology contains a sweeping radicalism which declares an academic 'plague on all your houses'. His sociology of the 'human condition' sweeps aside the contemporary focus on 'modernity' and rejects most of the dominant paradigms of sociology as one-sided, economistic, teleological, individualistic and/or rationalistic. As sociologists, Elias also asks us to distance ourselves from mainstream psychology, history, and above all philosophy, which is summarily abandoned, although carried forward on a higher level.This enlightening book details the far-reaching and provocative core at the heart of Elias. Written by a close friend and pupil of Elias it is the first book to explain the refractory, uncomfortable, side of Elias's sociological radicalism and to brace us for its implications.Kilminster, Richard is the author of 'Norbert Elias', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415437066 and ISBN 0415437067.