Newsletter of the Norbert Elias Foundation
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27 Newsletter of the Norbert Elias Foundation CONTENTS PEOPLE People 1 • Roger Chartier has been appointed to From the Norbert Elias Foundation the Collège de France. The title of his University of Chester Norbert Elias Prize 2 chair is ‘Écrit et cultures dans l’Europe Book launch 2 moderne’, and he will be giving his Norbert Elias Ghana Artist’s Stipend 2 inaugural lecture on 11 October, 2007. Collected Works of Norbert Elias 2 • Pieter Spierenburg is now Professor Desperately seeking pigeons 2 of Historical Criminology at the Eras- Looking forward to the ISA World Congress of Sociology, mus Universiteit Rotterdam. Göteborg, 2010 3 Involvement and Detachment: A Reflection on the • Reinhard Blomert has been appointed Leicester conference 2006 – Andrew Linklater 3 editor of Leviathan, a journal for social The Shoe-lace Breaching Experiment – Ingo Moerth 4 sciences – sociology, politics and eco- The Impact of Elias’s Work on Organisational Research and nomics. It is based in Berlin, with an Management Development – Ralph Stacey 6 office in the research institute WZB Review Essays (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin). Elias, The Genesis of the Naval Profession – Abram de Swaan 8 • Jack Goody, The Theft of History – Katie Liston 10 In January 2007 Abram de Swaan reached the age of 65, the mandatory A. N. García Martínez, El proceso de la civilización – Sofia Gaspar 12 retirement age at all universities in The Recent Books and Essays 13 Netherlands. On Friday, 26 January, Book Announcements 17 he gave a valedictory lecture to a large Bibliographical Retrospect 18 audience in the grand auditorium of Work in Progress 18 the University of Amsterdam, and was Recent Conferences subsequently honoured in speeches The Art of Polyphony: Group Analysis as a Model for the by the Rector of the university and Civilising of Conflicts 19 several colleagues. The valedictory X Civilising Process Symposium, Brazil 19 lecture was given in Dutch, while the Forthcoming Conferences English translation was simultaneously Completion of Elias Gesammelte Schriften, projected on a screen. The original text, Marbach 14–15 September, 2007 20 entitled ‘Wijsheid achteraf’ [Wisdom in hindsight], and containing a personal Civilising and Decivilising Processes: A Figurational Approach restrospective upon his career as a soci- to American Studies, Frankfurt, 22–24 November, 2007 20 ologist and writer, is published in the Obituaries Dutch literary review De Gids CLXX, Peter Reinhart Gleichmann, 1932–2006 21 nr. 2 (February 2007), pp. 87–102. On Anne Witz, 1952–2006 23 the occasion De Swaan was presented with a Liber amicorum, entitled Gren- zeloos nieuwsgierig: Opstellen voor Book launch cation, entitled Encounters, and in An en over Abram de Swaan (Boundlessly On 4 July the first Dutch edition of Anthology of Contemporary Ghanaian curious: Essays for and about Abram de Quest for Excitement (Sport en span- Poems. He designed the cover of the Swaan, Amsterdam: Bert Bakker 2007), ning. De zoektocht naar sensatie in book. edited by three of Bram’s former PhD de vrije tijd, Bert Bakker), will be students, Annet Mooij, David Bos and launched during the congress cel- Bernard Akoi-Jackson is currently Sonja van’t Hof. ebrating the fifth anniversary of the a Master of Fine Art student at the Mulier Instituut, the Dutch institute Department of Painting and Sculpture, for research in the social sciences on College of Art, KNUST, Kumasi. His sport. Joop Goudsblom will give a talk proposed thesis/project topic is ‘Okadii on ‘Norbert Elias and the Sociology of Dijii: Ga Concepts of Signification and Sport’ (in Dutch). For more information their Relevance as Idioms of Contem- on the congress, see http://www.mulier- porary Art Practice’. instituut.nl/congres. Collected Works Norbert Elias Ghana Artist’s Norbert Elias Stipend The following volumes were published The third winner of the Norbert Elias by UCD Press in February 2007: Ghana Artist’s Stipend is Bernard Akoi-Jackson. In his twenties, he grew Involvement and Detachment Bram de Swaan receiving the Liber amicorum up loving the arts and spent eight of Collected Works vol. 8 his childhood years in Selebi-Phikwe, Edited by Stephen Quilley Botswana, where his interest in litera- ISBN: 1904558429 ture and theatre was initiated. Upon his Price: £ 45.00 / € 60.00 return to Ghana, he took a course in FROM THE NORBERT visual art in the Presbyterian Boys’ Sec- An Essay on Time ELIAS FOUNDATION ondary School in Legon. Here too, his Collected Works vol. 9 interest in drama was further nurtured Edited by Steven Loyal and Stephen University of Chester by the existence of a vibrant school Mennell Norbert Elias Prize drama club. ISBN: 1904558410 With the support of the Norbert Elias Price: £ 45.00 / € 60.00 Foundation, the Department of Sport He gained admission into the College and Exercise Sciences at the Univer- of Art, Kwame Nkrumah University of The texts have been carefully corrected, sity of Chester has instituted an annual Science and Technology, at Kumasi, passages omitted from earlier versions prize for the best thesis submitted for where he obtained first-class honours restored, and explanatory notes sup- the MSc in the Sociology of Sport in the Bachelor of Fine Art in paint- plied where necessary. Involvement and and Exercise (of which Katie Liston ing. His undergraduate thesis/project, Detachment contains full-colour images is Programme Leader). The prize is to which was a study in non-static art, was of two paintings discussed at length by be known as the University of Chester entitled ‘Statements (An Installation): Elias, Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait and Norbert Elias Prize. The first winner is A project inspired by the concepts of Velázquez’s Las Meninas. Steven Cock, who wrote an outstand- time and space in contemporary paint- ing thesis on ‘Swimming and Bathing ing’. He did his national service in art UCD Press can offer substantial dis- in the Civilising Process’, of which an therapy at the Pantang Hospital, a psy- counts to readers of Figurations who abstract is printed later in this issue of chiatric institution in Accra, Ghana. wish to buy copies direct from the Figurations. After the university con- publishers. Readers far across the globe gregation in Chester cathedral on 30 As a painter of eclectic mannerisms, his from Dublin may find, however, that March 2007 at which the degree was fascination is in mixed-media, concep- the cost of postage may outweigh the conferred, the prize was presented to tual art and non-static forms. He writes discount. Contact [email protected] for Steve Cock by Stephen Mennell. drama and poetry and is artistic direc- further details. tor of Christ@Work, a Christian youth choreo-visual and theatre arts group. He Desperately seeking recently directed the group’s production pigeons of ‘Ananse Must Die!’ – a contempo- Eric Dunning recently recalled having rary folkplay written by Cecil Jones written an article with Norbert Elias Abban, the president of Christ@Work. on the popular working-class hobby Bernard’s poem ‘Eternal Link’ won of pigeon racing, sometime in the late the first prize in the first ever literature 1960s, which he thought had been competition organised by the Goethe published in an American magazine, Institute, Accra in 1999. This poem was probably Newsweek. If that were so, later included a Goethe Institute publi- it should be included in the forthcom- 2 Figurations Issue No.27 June 2007 ing three volumes of Elias’s essays in now indicated that the RC20 Board is and South America, Asia, Africa and the Collected Works. There has been happy to include among its Working Oceania, in relation to an ever-broader no difficulty in retrieving the draft of Groups one on Figurational Sociology range of parts of the globe. this article from a typescript in the (although we may want to discuss the Elias archives: it consists of 800 words name). RC20’s website is: http://www. Please send comments, suggestions and packed with insights. But we have had isa-sociology.org/rc20.htm. offers to help to Robert van Krieken at no success in finding out when and where it was actually published. We We now need to get some discussion Department of Sociology & Social have established, with the help of their going about what we are going to do Policy archivist in New York, that the piece for 2010, what kinds of sessions we University of Sydney A26 did not appear in Newsweek. It would would like to run, who would like to NSW 2006 appear that it did not appear in Time organise and chair them, who would Australia magazine, because there is an online like to function as the ‘chair’ of this Tel: +61-2-9351 2641 index of its contents going back to working group, or set up a website, and Mobile: +61 402 409 144 1923. Eric is amazingly vague about so on. In order to set the ball rolling, in email: [email protected] exactly when and where the little essay approaching the RC20 Board, we made web: http://www.usyd.edu.au/su/social/ may have appeared, but it looks as the following claims (below) about robert/rvk.html though it was in 1967–8, give or take a what we would do leading up to the few years. Or perhaps it was only sub- 2010 Göteborg ISA World Congress: mitted for publication but never actu- INVOLVEMENT AND ally published. The obvious resources The areas in which this RC20 Working DETACHMENT: A REFLEC- of the internet and library searches have Group will be providing the opportunity TION ON THE LEICESTER already been tried. But if any reader of for sociologists from around the world to CONFERENCE 2006 Figurations can pin down this phantom present the results of their recent research publication, we shall be immensely include, but are not restricted to: Andrew Linklater grateful.