Five misunderstandings of Elias's thought

Nathalie Heinich

pp. 31-39

in: François Dépelteau, Tatiana Savoia Landini (eds), Norbert Elias and social theory, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013

Abstract

In this chapter I will try to analyze why some of the criticisms leveled at Elias's thought seem to proceed from a misunderstanding or misinterpretation. In doing so I do not intend to defend any orthodoxy, or to claim any supposed infallibility of his thought, which merits, as any other, to be discussed in some respects. For example, one could be critical regarding the status of his sources (since the difference between observation and prescription practices is not always clearly specified), his interpretation of prohibitions (which may indicate either the importance of a practice or its delegitimization), or the empirical falsifiability of such a very general model as his (Heinich 1997).

Cited authors

Elias Norbert