Elias, Norbert (1897–1990)

Norbert Elias is often considered one of the last classical sociologists, yet his work prefigured many of the preoccupations and concerns of contemporary sociology. This overview explores Elias both as a classical and as a contemporary sociologist by sketching out his biography and looking at its interplay with his distinctive intellectual development. It outlines the key principles of Elias's approach, which are radically relational, processual, and synthetic in a manner that retains some of the integrating ambitions of classical sociology. Elias's sociological practice is outlined as seeking to avoid dualism, to integrate the empirical and rational components of social inquiry, and above all to engage with social life dynamically through involving an interplay between different levels of integration. Through everyday examples, the entry provides an exposition of key Eliasian concepts, notably sociogenesis and psychogenesis, Homo clausus and Homines aperti , figuration, power, and interdependence. Finally, it concludes by exploring extensions of Elias's work, enduring challenges to his approach, and key applications of his work by subsequent “figurational” scholars.