Newsletter of the Norbert Elias Foundation

FROM THE NORBERT ELIAS FOUNDATION

Third Norbert Elias Amalfi Prize 2003 In order to nominate an author’s first book for the award, please send the enclosed form to The Norbert Elias Foundation, in co-operation with the Academic Committee of the European Amalfi Prize for Saskia Visser Sociology and Social Sciences, announces the Third Secretary, Norbert Elias Foundation European Prize dedicated to Norbert Elias. The Prize J.J. Viottastraat 13 consists in a sum of €1000 and it will be awarded to a 1071 JM Amsterdam significantfirst work by a European author published in The Netherlands Europe between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2002. In the case of books written in the ‘smaller’ European lan- The Prize is awarded ‘in commemoration of the sociolo- guages, please also include a brief summary in English. gist Norbert Elias (1897–1990), whose writings, at once theoretical and empirical, boldly crossed disciplinary The Foundation’s new Website boundaries in the social sciences to develop a long-term perspective on the patterns of interdependence which As many readers will have discovered, Norbert Elias human beings weave together’. Norbert Elias was Foundation’s former website proved unreliable, and we himself the first recipient of the European Amalfi Prize decided to discontinue it. Saskia Visser has spent much for his book Die Gesellschaft der Individuen. Now the of her time in 2002 working with consultants to create Norbert Elias Prize is intended to draw attention to a a greatly improved and more ambitious website. By the promising young European scholar who has published time you receive this issue − or certainly very shortly a first book in sociology or a related discipline. The after that − you should be able to find us once more at a first Norbert Elias Prize was awarded in 1999 to David new address: Lepoutre for his book Coeur de banlieue and the second www.norberteliasfoundation.nl in 2001 to Wilbert van Vree for Meetings, Manners and Civilisation. We shall include a description of the website’s contents in Figurations 19.

THE ELIAS COLLECTED The Frühschriften comprise minor from the time when he was member WORKS texts and academic manuscripts writ- of the famous Zionist ‘Blau−Weiss’ Two more volumes of the Gesammelte ten before the magnum opus, Über den group in Breslau, which was part of Schriften are published: Prozess der Zivilisation. Not included the German youth movement. In these Norbert Elias, Frühschriften (Col- in this volume, but forthcoming in a texts, we find Elias a sociologist of lected Works in German, Volume I). later one, is the text of Elias’s Frank- knowledge right from the beginning. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 2002. 191 pp. furt Habilitationsschrift, Die höfische Everything, so he teaches in the small ISBN: 3-518-58317-4 Gesellschaft. The earliest writings stem text ‘Vom Sehen in der Natur’, is

Issue No.18 December 2002 Figurations 1 dependent of time and cultural mean- Oppenheimer. The title is telling: it with the 1976 Introduction, was trans- ing. In his doctoral thesis, published points to what questions the exiles of lated into German by Michael Schröter, here for the first time, he tried to come the 1930s were asking. and Elias made a further addition to to grips with the ahistorical discipline the text. Writing now in German, Elias of philosophy. His teacher Richard Reinhard Blomert returned to the general principles of Hönigswald was not amused and his École des Hautes Études en Sciences established–outsider relations in an challenge cost Elias the philosophical Sociales, Paris essay on what the called the ‘Maycomb career to which he had thitherto been Model’, published in the first German attracted. After a short interlude when Note: The following essays from the edition in 1990. This was not included he tried to earn his living as freelance Frühschriften volume are already avail- in revised English edition, and it is still writer (see the ‘Anekdoten’ reprinted able in English translation: not available in English translation. here from the Berliner Illustrierte Zei- tung), he turned to Heidelberg, where ‘On the Sociology of German Anti- ‘Further Facets of Established–Outsider he found his scientific destiny in the Semitism’, Journal of Classical Sociol- Relationships: The Maycomb Model’, new discipline of sociology. Working ogy 1 (2) 2001: 219–25 was written in the last months of with Alfred Weber (see ‘Zur Entstehung Elias’s life, in May–June 1990. In it, as der modernen Naturwissenschaften’ in In The Norbert Elias Reader: A Bio- Michael Schröter has reported and as I this volume) and strongly influenced graphical Selection (eds J. Goudsblom remember it ‘from the horse’s mouth’, by Max Weber and Karl Mannheim and S.J. Mennell, Oxford: Blackwell, Elias finally completed his old plan of he found his own way, as we can trace 1998): using Harper Lee’s famous book To through the texts collected here, includ- ‘Idea and Individual’ (brief except from Kill a Mocking Bird (1960), on the rela- ing his contributions to the Soziolo- Elias’s Breslau DrPhil dissertation), pp. tionship between Negroes and Whites gentag 1928, and ‘Zur Soziologie des 5–7 in Maycomb, Alabama, as another deutschen Antisemitismus’ in 1929 ‘On Primitive Art’, pp. 8–11 paradigmatic model of established–out- (see Figurations 9). In his sketch ‘“Die ‘The Expulsion of the Huguenots from sider relationships. This served as a Wolke” oder “Politik als Wissenschaft”, France’, pp. 18–25 stepping stone toward broadening the frei nach Aristophanes’, written in ‘The Kitsch Style and the Age of implications of his English study to all honour of Karl Mannheim when he left Kitsch’, pp. 26–35 unequal relationships. Other pointers to Heidelberg, he shows a good measure this – besides the contents of this new of irony. essay itself – are the deletion of the Norbert Elias and John L. Scotson, two definite articles in the book’s title Just after he had completed the manu- Etablierte und Außenseiter (Collected (Etablierte und Außenseiter instead of script of Die höfische Gesellschaft in Works in German, Volume IV). Frank- The Established and the Outsiders) and 1933 he had to leave Frankfurt and fled furt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2002. 325 pp. the omission of the original subtitle of to Paris. From the French period we ISBN: 3-518-58318-2. the book ‘A Sociological Enquiry into have two texts. ‘Kitschstil und Community Problems’. An earlier step Kitschzeitalter’, a piece on art and Responsibility for this volume of the in this direction had been his ‘Theoreti- society in history, dealing with the new standard edition in German of the cal essay on established and outsider delicate question of taste and social works of Norbert Elias was taken on relations’, written in 1976 for the class. Here he creates the term ‘good behalf of the Editorial Board by Nico translation of the book into the Dutch society’ as a taste setting class. It was Wilterdink. Not untypically, the his- language. At the time, in discussions of originally intended for publication in tory of the book is a little complicated. these relationships and of such topics the Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung, but The Established and the Outsiders as Black Power, Elias often referred when Horkheimer declined it, it was was originally written in English, and to Harper Lee’s novel, but it did not published in Die Sammlung edited by published in 1965 by Frank Cass, surface in the ‘theoretical essay’ (which Klaus Mann. The last text of this col- London. The substance of the book is is also included in the new German lection is ‘Die Vertreibung der Hugen- an empirical study of the tensions and edition). The translation of this book otten aus Frankreich’. It shows the power balance between working-class into the German language offered him other side of Louis XIV, the ugly face neighbourhoods near Leicester. Elias’s another chance to use this novel as a of an ageing monarch, who became co-author, John Scotson, as a teacher peg in showing that so-called ‘race rela- religious and tried to expel the Prot- and youth club leader, was intimately tions’ are understood far more properly estants from France for the sake of familiar with the area. Later, as an as established–outsider relationships. cultural homogeneity. It is a text that introduction to the Dutch translation of This is how the essay on ‘Further has to be read as commentary to the the book published in 1976, Elias wrote Facets’ or ‘The Maycomb Model’ origi- racist terror in Germany and shows the a substantial new introduction, entitled nated (for further details, see Schröter’s brute treatment of the marginalised. ‘A theoretical essay on established Erfahrungen mit Norbert Elias, Frank- It was published in a refugee journal, and outsider relations’, but this text furt a/M: Suhrkamp, 1997: 251−2, Der Ausweg, published by a Jewish remained unpublished in English until 321). Its characteristic opening sen- reform movement, called ‘Renouveau’, the revised edition from Sage in 1996. tences are: ‘Inequalities between groups with prominent contributors like Franz Later still, the original book, together and individuals belong to the recurring

2 Figurations Issue No.18 December 2002 Issue No.18 December 2002 Figurations 3 characteristics of human societies. Why ing point that, while from about 1965 interwoven in the article. The two other they are, is an open question.’ onwards Elias rarely made detailed studies were never published in English reference to earlier writers (and he journals (one of them was published Cas Wouters has often been criticised for that), this in a Dutch journal but it received no Amsterdam essay shows that earlier in his career he international attention). Yet the material conformed much more closely to the in the Norbert Elias archive in Marbach AND SEE ALSO … academic ideal. am Neckar, Germany, shows that the Norbert Elias, Écrits sur L’Art Afric- project on the naval profession is larger ain (translated into French by Jean-Ber- A NOTE ON ‘HABITUS’ than just the three proposed articles nard Ouédraogo and Françoise Armen- There has been some discussion about in the BJS. The outline given of the gaud). Paris: Editions Kimé, 2002. the question of who first used the project shows a structure for a small 167pp. ISBN: 2-84174-273-3. term habitus in its current sociological book of at least 120 pages. sense − Bourdieu or Elias. I think Elias This book consists of two parts. The was first chronologically, but when The unpublished articles form a coher- first is a translation of the catalogue to Bourdieu started using the concept he ent whole, whose contents – in a the exhibition of ‘African Art from the did so independently of Elias. nutshell – deal with the social origins Collection of Norbert Elias’, held at the of one of the key institutions in Brit- Leicester Museum of Art Gallery from Partly to show how futile such discus- ish society, the Royal Navy and its 24 April to 14 June 1970. It includes sions can be, let me mention a pas- officer corps. In general the work is Elias’s comments on a selection of sage that I recently read in a book by built on the strife between nobility items from his collection, together the Dutch historian Jan Romein (In and commoners and in this sense the with numerous photographs (which opdracht van de tijd: Tien voordrachten ‘Naval Profession’ continues Elias’s strangely, however, do not correspond over historische thema’s (Amsterdam: earlier researches in civilising proc- exactly with those in the original 1970 Em. Querido, 1946, pp. 178−79). esses. The rivalry between nobility and catalogue, and are not always easy to According to Romein, the Dutch legal commoners was the engine of change, relate to Elias’s commentary). But of philosopher Hugo de Groot or Grotius contributing to the institutionalisation particular importance is Elias’s intro- (1583−1645) made a comparison, in of a new occupation, the naval officer. ductory essay on African Art, which the Brevarium of the third book of his Comparisons with Spain and France appears here (pp. 9−23) in French for Parallelon rerumpublicarum, between demonstrate that the rivalry was essen- the first time. the customs and the character of the tial to England’s gaining a competitive Athenian, the Roman and the Batavian edge and establishing its dominance The second part of the book (pp. (that is, Dutch) peoples [de moribus over the world’s seas. The conflict was 115−63) comprises an essay on ‘Stages ingenioque populorum Atheniensium, suppressed in Spain and in France, with of African Art, Social and Visual’, Romanorum, Batavorum] in which he detrimental results to nautical skills and which Elias wrote in English but never raised the question of whether there military competence. Military compe- published. The typescript, now lodged exists a certain quality of an entire tence – in the logic deployed by Elias with the rest of his papers in Marbach people which he calls έξις (hexis) or – stems from the values and norms am Neckar, shows the typical signs of habitus, and, if so, from where that associated with noblemen (courage, having been reworked and revised by quality originates. In Romein’s interpre- fighting spirit, collaboration, hierar- Elias and for that reason the Board of tation, the way Hugo de Groot used the chical command structures). Nautical the Norbert Elias Foundation decided to term habitus comes remarkably close to skills originate from seamen or ‘tarpau- authorise its publication. current sociological usage. lin commanders’ who have learned the tricks of the trade as young apprentices Michael Schröter, ‘Was lacht kann Johan Goudsblom at sea. Only the rivalry between the two nicht beißen: Ein unveröffentlichter University of Amsterdam socially divergent groups could result in ‘Essay on Laughter’ by Norbert Elias. a fusion of military and nautical skills Merkur, 56, 2002: 860−73. or, in other words, in the genesis of the LOST AND FOUND: naval officer. One of the leading ques- Michael Schröter, who worked with ELIAS’S WORK ON THE tions formulated by Elias in one of the Elias and edited many of the books NAVAL PROFESSION unpublished papers (cover 505 in the that appeared late in Elias’s life, here In 1950 Norbert Elias published the NE-archive) himself is: ‘How could a outlines the argument of an ambitious first of three studies into ‘the Genesis gentleman become a tarpaulin without but unfinished typescript dating from of the Naval Profession’ in the British loosing caste, without lowering his an earlier phase of Elias’s career. It can Journal of Sociology [1 (4): 291–309]. social status?’ be found in the Elias archive at Mar- Elias at that time was not the estab- bach, and dates from 1956. It sketches lished scholar that he was to become But many social conditions have to a whole theory of the civilising of later. In the 1950s the work on the naval be fulfilled if new institutions are to laughter, and characteristically crosses profession was not well received by arise. Elias does not want only to give the conventional boundaries of many the audience even though all the major an insight in the institutionalisation disciplines. Schröter makes the interest- themes of the ‘civilising process’ were of a profession, but also to describe

2 Figurations Issue No.18 December 2002 Issue No.18 December 2002 Figurations 3 research question is directed at gain- �� ing insight in the project ‘Studies in �� the Genesis of the Naval Profession’. We want to ascertain the relevance of �� the naval studies for sociology in gen- �� eral and more specifically for military �� sociology. The project ‘Genesis of the Naval Profession’ is connected to the main body of the work of Norbert Elias. �� Subsidiary questions are how the work on the naval profession fits in with the work on civilising processes and why �� the work on the naval profession was never published in full. The ultimate �� goal of this project is to arrive at publication of Elias’s studies on the genesis political and modernisation processes in healthy antagonism between nobility of the naval profession. England and compare them with conti- and civilians, modernisation processes nental developments. In Elias’s words: (modernisation leading to new institu- René Moelker ‘The history of a profession is part of tional arrangements such as the fusion Royal Netherlands Military Academy the social and economic history of its of noblemen and seamen into the pro- Breda country’ (taken from a note from Cover fession of naval officers) are stimulated. e-mail: [email protected] 518). The social conditions are depend- The diagrams above illustrate the social ent on the political structure. When conditions favourable to the rise of the political structure (through Elias’s England as a maritime power. famous ‘royal mechanism’) permits a In the project that I am undertaking, the

REFLECTIONS ON approaches to human ecology, archae- have written themselves out of these MAPPAE MUNDI ology, anthropology, psychology and debates. The social scientific cul-de-sac linguistics jostle with developmental is the result of two intellectual failures, B. De Vries and J. Goudsblom biology, the brain sciences, psychoanal- namely: (1) the retreat from the idea of Mappae Mundi: Humans and their ysis, demography, history, population what used to be known as social evolu- Habitats in a Long-Term Socio-Eco- genetics, physiology, human geography, tion, but is better described as long- logical Perspective: Myths, Maps and and an array of other disciplines, in term processes of social development; Models. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Uni- cacophonous debates about the nature and (2) the retreat from biology. versity Press, 2002. 446 pp. ISBN: 90- of humanity, and its relationship with 5356 535 3 non-human nature. Unfortunately, over Social Development: Over-reacting the last three decades, sociologists to the excesses of nineteenth-century This beautifully produced book was published to mark the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Dutch Society for the Sciences, and a copy of it presented to HM Queen Beatrix on 25 May 2002 (see Recent Conferences below). The sheer scope and ambition of a book co-authored by a sociologist and a natural scientist provokes reflection on the state and the scope of the social sciences today.

The idea of a human science is a con- tested domain, subject to interdisciplinary turf wars. Outside sociology, this contest is often productive. Clashes of scientific paradigm and perspective cross-fertilise, engendering interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks and even new disciplines. Evolutionary

4 Figurations Issue No.18 December 2002 Issue No.18 December 2002 Figurations 5 evolutionism, sociologists and social has occurred in tandem with the evolu- unfold together. He was also unique anthropologists have made the study of tionary transformation of the biosphere. amongst contemporary sociologists in long-term processes of social develop- Thousands of species have become recognising the critical importance of ment synonymous with western impe- extinct whilst many thousands of others the link between individual processes rialism and Eurocentric assumptions have entered into a state of permanent of socialisation and long-term processes of superiority. The self-evident insight ecological symbiosis with humanity. of social development, recognising that that there are path-dependencies asso- there was a link between this sociologi- ciated with the sequence of develop- The problem for human science is to cal problem and the controversial rela- ment and with the scale and intensity develop an encompassing theoretical tion between ontogeny and phylogeny of social processes, has been rendered framework, which can reconcile social, in biology. But at the heart of Elias’s invisible and effectively unsayable. psychological, ecological, and evolu- contribution is an epistemological The historical observation that agrarian tionary processes operating simultane- framework which, at least potentially, societies have displaced hunter-gather ously, but over different timeframes. reconciles the social and biological societies, only themselves to be dis- The recent evolution of our species sciences within an integrated theory of placed subsequently by industrial socie- requires a time-horizon of a hundred knowledge. This unified framework, ties, rarely provides a point of departure millennia or more, while the most sig- developed in The Symbol Theory and for sociological enquiries because of nificant transformations associated with Involvement and Detachment, is not an the perceived normative equivalence of symbol emancipation and the evolu- exercise in theoretical semantics but evolution and progress. tion of a capacity and compulsion for offers a serious rationale for under- language and culture probably occurred standing the nature of the autonomy Biology: The retreat from biology is between sixty and forty thousand years of social processes, whilst at the same more complex and relates to (i) human ago. The evolutionary ecology of time recognising their foundations in evolution (‘phylogeny’), (ii) indi- what Goudsblom dubs the ‘anthropo- the biological realm. Perhaps most vidual human growth and development sphere’ operates at several overlapping suggestively, outlining a hierarchy of (‘ontogeny’) and (iii) the evolutionary scales. Human fire-culture has been disciplines and subject matters at differ- ecology of human development. In shaping eco-systems for hundreds of ent ‘levels of integration’, Elias alludes relation to human nature, the accept- thousands of years. Agrarianisation to the possibility of higher-level proc- ance of human evolution as a scientific and the domestication of the biosphere esses, reacting back and ‘channelling’ fact has rarely engendered sociologi- have accelerated and expanded across lower level processes. Elias referred cal enquiries about the extent to which the earth over a much shorter period to the emergence of humanity as a spe- human behaviour may or may not be of ten thousand years – a time-frame cies with a biological predisposition for circumscribed or conditioned by our which also encompasses those long- language and culture as ‘symbol eman- genomic inheritance. The possibility term processes of social development cipation’. Goudsblom’s concept of the of a ‘stone-age mind’ has been flatly that have seen a steady increase in the anthroposphere, located ‘within the rejected, whilst the alternative proposi- scale and intensity of human social and biosphere’, refers precisely to the most tion of an infinitely malleable human economic interdependencies. Human glaringly obvious example of such a nature conceived as a ‘blank slate’, history, measured in centuries, brings channelling effect. Symbol emancipa- has been elevated to an article of faith. more specific processes Sociologists seem to agree with their of state formation into biological antagonists that sociologi- view. In this regard, cal perspectives are unlikely to be able Norbert Elias was almost to make any original contribution to unique among social our understanding of the process of scientists in recognising human evolution. And although long that the history of the consigned to the intellectual dustbin in state formation process developmental biology, the outdated was simultaneously a opposition between nature and nurture history of distinctive per- continues to inform sociological injunc- sonality structures. With tions against ‘biological determinism’. its emphasis on psycho- Processes of individual socialisation genetic and sociogenetic are rarely acknowledged as instances of processes, The Civilising biological and neurological growth and Process advanced an his- development. torical sociology of the unconscious, historicis- However the retreat from biology does ing ideas only partially not only find expression in relation to developed by Freud human nature and social behaviour. It in Totem and Taboo and Civilisation tion, which started out as a falteringly is also evident in relation to human and its Discontents. Implicit in Elias’s evolved cognitive capacity for symbolic ecology. The evolution and subsequent analysis is the realisation that long-term communication, has led to the ecologi- long term development of our species social and psychological developments cal explosion of the human species.

4 Figurations Issue No.18 December 2002 Issue No.18 December 2002 Figurations 5 This in turn has engendered an evolu- disciplines. Mappae Mundi, edited by to a possible fourth post-industrial eco- tionary transformation of the biosphere Bert de Vries and Johan Goudsblom, is logical regime that might yet emerge in as great as that which saw the creation a superb demonstration of the enormous response to environmental crisis and the of an oxygen environment by cyano- scope for such an engagement. Bring- depletion of fossil fuels. bacteria, or the much later extinction of ing together physical scientists, biolo- From the perspective of many of the the dinosaurs. Clearly the evolution of gists, and social scientists from a range contributing disciplines, this volume symbolising hominids has turned out of disciplines, the collection explores is useful and timely, but perhaps not to be an evolutionary-ecological event the relationship between the long-term earth shattering. Physical geographers, of rather epic proportions. In short, processes of social development and archaeologists, climatologists, demog- social processes, which are the object broader ecological transformations of raphers, and biologists are more easily of sociology and anthropology, have non-human nature. Goudsblom’s con- able to shake off their disciplinary in this case channelled and steered the cept of the anthroposphere establishes shackles in the spirit of co-operation. biological evolution of both of our own the timeframe and demarcates the path- To a green-eyed sociologist, they seem species and all those associated with the dependent sequence of human devel- to enjoy a research culture driven by humanised ecosystems upon which we opment, starting with the emergence questions rather than ‘topic-areas’. For depend. of fire-culture among early hominids, a sociologist it is rare indeed to see a through processes of agrarianisation colleague involved in such fruitful col- If sociology and social anthropology and later industrialisation. Subsequent laboration. Mappae Mundi should be are to rejoin the fold and contribute chapters review in more detail: human read as an open invitation to our disci- constructively to the development of responses and anthropogenic transfor- pline to re-establish a series of much an interdisciplinary human science, mations associated with climate change longer, overlapping time-frames to Elias’s insistence on the importance during the Holocene; the process of guide our enquires. It should also serve long-term social processes would be a agrarianisation; the long-term trend to demonstrate the great contribution good place to start. Likewise his theory towards increasing social complexity; that sociology could be making to the of knowledge, which draws attention the socio-ecological dynamics of the inter-disciplinary science of humanity. to the intimate autonomy of the social Roman empire; demography and envi- and biological realms respectively, pro- ronment in Asia; and the twin processes Stephen Quilley vides a firm basis for an engagement of industrialisation and globalisation of University College Dublin by social scientists with the research the last two centuries. In the conclud- programmes in neighbouring scientific ing chapter, Goudsblom speculates as

RECENT BOOKS AND suited the values and standards of the civilised societies have to tolerate new ARTICLES civilised world came to be set in place boundaries of punishment. This is not from around 1800 to the late twentieth because of any development of ‘civi- John Pratt Punishment and Civilisa- century. In this book, John Pratt, of the lised punishment’. Instead this is due to tion: Penal Tolerance and Intolerance Victoria University of Wellington, New a shift in public mood and power: from in Modern Society. London: Sage, Zealand draws on research about prison public indifference to public involve- 2002. 213pp. ISBN: 0-7619-6209-3 architecture, clothing, diet, hygienic ment in penal development. (hb); 0-7619-6210-7(pb) arrangements and changes in penal language to establish this. Throughout this text theoretical ideas Because we received a copy of this im- and concepts are accessibly introduced portant book only shortly before Figura- The author demonstrates that this did and illustrated with a wide range of tions 18 went to press, we print below not mean, however, that such a frame- examples from the UK, USA, Canada, the publisher’s blurb. A more detailed work of punishment was ‘civilised’. Australia and New Zealand. It will note may appear in a future edition. Instead it meant that punishment could be essential reading for students and be largely unchecked by a public that academics of punishment, prisons and Punishment and Civilisation examines did not want to be involved. In the last social theory. how a framework of punishment that few decades it has become clear that

6 Figurations Issue No.18 December 2002 Issue No.18 December 2002 Figurations 7 Mieke Komen, ‘Dangerous chil- history of the Australian ‘stolen gen- mies derive from only perceiving part dren: Juvenile delinquency and judi- erations’ – those Aboriginal children of the constitution, rather than all of it. cial intervention in the Netherlands, removed from their families in the The paper concludes with a discussion 1960−1995’, Crime, Law and Social course of the twentieth century – and of one example of a type of sociology Change, 37, 2002: 379−401. its current political and normative reas- that does operate across all of Latour’s sessment, which provides an important Constitution because it is based on a In the continuing controversy in stimulus towards critical reflections on different conception of what is prob- academic circles over the rise in the nature of liberal politics and prac- lematic about social order − Norbert reported juvenile violent delinquency, tices in a settler-colonial context. The Elias’s ‘figurational sociology’ − and some scholars attribute it largely to paper focuses on the linkages between with some observations about what we the increase in the actual number the historical development of liberalism might do with sociology’s constitution of offences while others emphasise and changes in what is understood and from this point onwards. changes in registration and intervention experienced as ‘civilisation’, beginning practices. This article reviews changes with the contrast between the reliance in the way justice workers try to control on the concept of ‘civilisation’ both to Jauregui, Pablo, Europeanism versus the behaviour of delinquent juveniles in remove Aboriginal children families Africanism: ‘“Europe” as a symbol of the Netherlands in the period 1960−95. up until the 1970s, and to support the modernity and democratic renewal in The study is based on an analysis of subsequent critique of removal poli- Spain’, pp. 77−100 in Mikael af Malm- files on adolescents and children placed cies and practices. He observes that the borg and B. Stråth (eds), The Meaning in the Dutch juvenile justice system concept of ‘civilisation’ has been used of Europe, Oxford, Berg, 2002. ISBN by judges during each decade from by social scientists in at least three dif- 1-85973-576-2 (Cloth); 1-85973-581-9 the 1960s to the 1990s. Comparing the ferent ways, and argues for the need to (Paper) older and recent files reveals that the keep in view the relationship between interventions of juvenile justice work- civilisation and colonialism in order to This chapter adopts Norbert Elias’s ers became less harsh. This process has support a more reflexive understanding approach to the study of national coincided with a rise in the severity of of civilisation which can encompass we-images and we-feelings, in an violence and crimes committed by the all three meanings and pay due heed to attempt to understand the emergence youngsters. As a result, from the early the paradoxical possibilities of violence of ‘Europe’ as a symbol of renewed 1980s onwards, juvenile justice workers and barbarism coexisting alongside and prestige and an emotive source of col- in fact intervened more frequently, but within processes of civilisation. lective pride in Spain. It argues that in still in a less punitive way. The external the aftermath of the Franco dictator- constraints in the Dutch judicial system ship, membership of the European are rather gentle and prudent, while Robert van Krieken ‘The paradox of Community/Union was widely viewed the youngsters commit more severe the “two sociologies”: Hobbes, Latour as the culmination of Spain’s success- violence and serious crimes, suggest- and the Constitution of modern social ful transition to democracy, and hence ing further inquiry into the degree of theory’, Journal of Sociology, 38 (3) as the recovery of a respectable status autonomy of, and interaction between, 2002: 255−73. on the international stage. In this sense, adult socialisation among professionals Spain’s enthusiastic entry into ‘Europe’ and youth socialisation. So far there have usually been only two exemplifies a macrosociological version answers to the question of what to do of Elias’s theory of established−outsider with dichotomies in sociology, either relationships: for Spaniards, becom- Robert van Krieken, ‘Reshaping Civi- embrace them or attempt to synthesise ing ‘European’ was (and is still seen lisation: Liberalism between Assimila- them. However, this has produced today) as a way of wiping out a shame- tion and Cultural Genocide’, Amster- merely an endless vacillation between ful source of ‘group disgrace’ (the dams Sociologisch Tijdschrift, 29 (2) the two positions, and a paradoxical humiliating exclusion from ‘Europe’ 2002: 215−47 (in English). constant reproduction of dichotomous during the Francoist dictatorship), and thinking rather than transformation. therefore as a strategy for achieving and This article is part of Robert van This paper works towards a ‘third maintaining a sense of ‘group charisma’ Krieken’s wider project which is des- answer’ to the question, first, by outlin- by becoming respectable members of tined to result in a book provisionally ing how the concept of the ‘Hobbesian the ‘modern’, ‘democratic’, and ‘civi- entitled Reshaping Civilisation: Citi- problem of order’, as proposed by Tal- lised’ sphere of European nations. It is zenship, Civility and Governance under cott Parsons, underpins all sociological the author’s conviction that this Elia- Settler Colonialism. The author argues dichotomies, and why it is important to sian approach can shed much light on for a more nuanced understanding of re-read Hobbes and revisit the so called attitudes to the European Union not just different meanings of the concept of ‘problem of order’. Second, it explains in Spain, but in all other current and ‘civilisation’, through an examination how Bruno Latour’s model of the ‘con- applicant member states of the EU. of the relationships between processes stitution’ of modern thought helps us to of civilisation and settler-colonialism understand the dynamics of oppositions under liberal political regimes. The like nature/society or agency/structure, particular example used is that of the and how the problems with dichoto-

6 Figurations Issue No.18 December 2002 Issue No.18 December 2002 Figurations 7 Alain Garrigou, ‘Un jeu presque par- Norman Davies and Roger Moor- Giddens has engaged a dominant para- fait pourquoi les régles sportives chan- house, Microcosm: Portrait of a Cen- digm that underlies both Marxist and gent’, Revue Jurdique et Economique tral European City, London: Jonathan structural−functional theories. Setting du Sport, 62, 2002: 7−26. Cape, 2002, 585 pp. out from a critique and reformulation Taking Elias and Dunning’s Quest for of Elias’s figurational-process sociol- Excitement as his point of departure, This book deals with Breslau as a focus ogy and Giddens’s structuration theory, Nanterre’s rugby-playing political sci- of Central European history. Chapter 7, Ichii develops a concept of habitus and entist elaborates an Eliasian interpreta- on ‘Wrocław: Phoenix from the Ashes, emotion that attempts to restore human tion of how the rules of sport come to 1945−2000’ contains the following subjectivity to social actors in complex change. paragraph on Norbert Elias: societies.

Helmut Kuzmics, ‘Regioni (Europe) ‘Norbert Elias (1897−1990), one of Florence Delmotte, ‘Norbert Elias et tra (Dis) Integration ed Identitá/ the pioneers of historical sociology, l’intégration postnationale. Swiss Politi- (Europäische) Regionen zwischen (Des- stayed long enough in his native Bre- cal Science Review 8 (1) 2002: 3−26. ) Integration und Identität’, International slau to complete both his schooling Review of Culture and Regional Transi- and his medical studies. Driven out of What according to Norbert Elias, is the tion Studies 1, 2001: 5−18 Germany, like Cassirer, by the Nazis, ‘dynamic of the West’ (as the second he had the misfortune to publish his volume of the French translation of The Published simultaneously in German masterwork Über den Prozess der Zivi- Civilising Process was called)? The and Italian, this article examines the lisation (1939) in German and in an history of beliefs and the growing com- distinction between ‘homeland’ and obscure Swiss edition, at the very plexity of the chains of interdependence ‘region’ in the context of the history outbreak of war. As a result, he did not between individuals. From this perspec- of the European system of states and gain his academic post in England until tive, the development of European soci- European unification as an unplanned he was near retiring age, and did not ety appears since the medieval period long-term process. Drawing on his gain worldwide recognition until his to have followed a ‘definite direction’ comparative studies of Austria and prolific retirement. He is considered the or a ‘constant bearing’ defined by the Britain, Kuzmics poses the question of founder of ‘Figurational Sociology’. domination on a successively ever how national and regional habituses are As befits an exile and a sociologist, the larger scale. related. He then discusses the develop- established anthology of his work is ment of we-identity in the context of prefaced by his own verse: Today, the debates about the constitu- European integration, and finally asks tion of a political union at European whether it is to be understood as Euro- How strange these people are level give a new topicality to the works peanisation, Americanisation or region- How strange I am of Elias. Beginning from the distinction alisation. How strange we are’. between ‘objective’ functional interdependence and integration that assumes Cas Wouters, ‘The Quest for New Rit- Johan Goudsblom the development of a collective identity, uals in Dying and Mourning: Changes Amsterdam Elias attempts to give an account of in the We-I Balance’, Body and Society the time lag between the appearance of 8 (1) 2002: 1−27. Yoshifusa Ichii, ‘Towards Combining a new ‘survival unit’ and the unfold- the Sociological Theories of Norbert ing of a new ‘we-feeling’. In the case Wouters begins by observing that in Elias and Anthony Giddens’, Ritsu- of contemporary Europe, it is a matter most Western countries, particularly in meikan Studies in Language and Cul- of explaining the gestation of national northern Europe and North America, ture, 13 (4) 2002: 199-207. habituses which continue to oppose a recent decades have brought significant process of political integration which is change in dying and mourning. The In order to explore new directions nevertheless seen as inevitable. dying are now generally informed of for sociological theory, Ichii attempts their condition and with their intimates, to combine the sociological theories To evaluate the originality of Elias’s are thus able to go through a process of of Norbert Elias and Anthony Gid- propositions, and their relevance to ‘anticipatory mourning’. And funeral dens. In the field of contemporary present philosophical and political show many of the symptoms associated sociological theory, it is said that Elias issues, the ‘post national institutions’ with informalisation in other areas of and Giddens are similar in that both of Elias are compared with the most life. In the 1960s and 1970s, mourn- have made endeavours to resolve recent theoretical views, including the ing became increasingly privatised the ‘structure−agency’ problem. It national-democratic option of Domin- and individualised, but more recently is true that Elias and Giddens have ique Schnapper and the ‘constitutional a quest for new rituals has become both tried to reconsider the problem patriotism’ of Jürgen Habermas. apparent. Mourning is ‘posed between of the human subject in sociologi- a highly institutionalised social obliga- cal theories. Whereas Elias not only Christien Brinkgreve, ‘De tweespalt tion and a highly individualised and anticipated some of the most important in het bestaan: Over de autobiografische personal feeling, respectively a public criticisms but also suggested cor- roman van Bram van Stolk, S-1’. and a private process. rectives to some of the alternatives, Amsterdams Sociologisch Tijdschrift,

8 Figurations Issue No.18 December 2002 Issue No.18 December 2002 Figurations 9 Special Issue on Levensverhalen, 2002, a participant in the fun and games for Hesse. It was Hesse who in 1952 recom- pp. 158-65. the last quarter century − the links and mended him to join Suhrkamp Verlag, a This article is about the autobiographi- arrows all seem accurately to match my new publishing house founded only two cal novel S-1 by the sociologist Bram own impressions of who did what, with years previously. On Peter Suhrkamp’s van Stolk, who was a founder member which, and to whom. death in 1959, Siegfried Unseld became of the Board of the Norbert Elias Foun- the firm’s chairman and publisher. He dation. It unravels the connections SJM believed in publishing authors, not between themes in his life, his socio- books, and had a reputation for fierce logical work, and his novel, with partic- Florence Delmotte, ‘Sur Norbert Elias: loyalty to those whose work he valued. ular reference to the relations between Engagement et distanciation (Contri- Apart from Hesse, his literary list the established and the outsiders. In butions à la sociologie de la connai- included Uwe Johnson, Hans Magnus S-1, Van Stolk wrote about his longing sance)’, Revue de l’Institut de Soci- Enzensberger, Samuel Beckett, Max for love and heroism and writes about ologie (Université libre de Bruxelles), Frisch, Octavio Paz, Reinhart Kosellek homosexuality in a different vein from 1997: 207−11. and Mario Vargas Llosa. But Suhrkamp that found in his sociological work. is associated at least as strongly with The book can be seen as a vital act of In this article, not reported in Figura- the books of thinkers such as T.W. resistance to the physical deterioration tions when it first appeared, Florence Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Herbert resulting from his illness. Delmotte examines Elias’s theory of Marcuse, Jürgen Habermas, Niklas involvement and detachment in the light Luhmann, Hans Blumenberg, Michel BIBLIOGRAPHICAL of the traditional polarity in theories Foucault, Roland Barthes, and Claude RETROSPECT of science between ‘epistemological Lévi-Strauss. Above all in the minds monism’ and ‘epistemological dualism’ of readers of Figurations, Siegfried Jos de Haan, Research Groups in Unseld will be remembered as a cham- Dutch Sociology. Amsterdam: Thesis pion of the work of Norbert Elias. Publisher, 1994, 282pp. (Proefschrift, OBITUARY University of Utrecht). How great a publisher Unseld was Siegfried Unseld, 28 September 1924 can be judged by how decisively he Not noticed in Figurations at the time, − 26 October 2002 acted when he first encountered Elias. this thesis applies network theory to the Initially, it had been agreed only to main research schools in Dutch sociol- bring out a paperback edition of Über ogy since the Second World War. den Prozess der Zivilisation. A press conference had been called to mark My first reaction to the table of con- its publication. Unseld greeted Elias, tents was that it was comforting to but warned him that he had another find that some of the schools had even appointment in half an hour. Elias was sillier names than ‘figurational sociol- on top form, and two and a half hours ogy’. For instance in the 1950s a group later Unseld was still standing there around Lammers and Van Doom called listening. He then took Elias to lunch themselves ‘Modern Sociologists’, and offered him a lifetime contract to mainly (it would seem) because they publish all his works, past and future; modelled themselves on the American and that indeed is the contract that is sociology of the time. Another group All who were present at the celebration still in force today, when Suhrkamp is (around Lindenberg and Wippler in the of Norbert Elias’s ninetieth birthday even now in the throes of issuing the 1970s and 1980s) called themselves in Amsterdam in 1987 will remember new standard edition of Elias’s Gesam- ‘Explanatory Sociologists’. After such the tribute paid to him by his publisher, melte Schriften. For his part, Elias was names-as-slogans, it is reassuring to Siegfried Unseld, who shared the plat- immensely grateful to Unseld, and in think that the almost meaningless term form − actually the pulpit in the Oude turn remained as loyal to his publisher ‘Figurational Sociology’ was originally Lutherse Kerk − with Pierre Bourdieu, as his publisher was to him. That is a label stuck on the group around Nor- Dirk Kaesler and Johan Goudsblom. why in German all of Elias’s books − bert Elias by opponents of that way of Unseld’s wife, the writer Ulla Berke- unlike the English versions, which are thinking. wicz, also read two of Elias’s poems at scattered among many separate pub- the celebration. lishers − are in the hands of a single More seriously, though, chapter 11 on In its obituary, The Guardian (1 No- publishing house. Figurational Sociology (pp. 155−72) vember, 2002) described Unseld as is of great interest. The data for the the ‘guardian of post-war Germany’s Johan Goudsblom network analysis is drawn mainly from literary inheritance’. Born in Ulm, Hermann Korte citations in doctoral theses and patterns Unseld was drafted into the German Stephen Mennell of co-authorship. In the diagrams many navy during the war, and then went to names familiar to readers of Figura- university in Tübingen, where he wrote tions are to be found, and to me − as his doctoral dissertation on Hermann

8 Figurations Issue No.18 December 2002 Issue No.18 December 2002 Figurations 9 RECENT CONFERENCES van Krieken, following on the success- German mission societies that set out to ful precedents set at Bielefeld and Mon- bring Christianity to Africa and, in both International Sociological Associa- treal, were well attended and the papers intended and unintended ways, in fact tion XV World Congress of Sociology presented formed unusually coherent brought far more than religion. Brisbane, Australia, 8−13 July 2002 and consistent groups. The first session contained papers on gobalisation (at The title of the second session, ‘Civi- The fifteenth World Congress of Sociol- present apparently the most frequently lisation, Culture and Society’ might ogy was held in the depth of winter in used keyword in the ISI citation indi- appear more of an omnium gatherum, Brisbane, where the hot sun bore down ces). Nico Wilterdink spoke about but in fact comprised three papers that out of clear blue skies and put to shame ‘Globalisation as a long-term process’, intellectually fitted tightly together. what passed this year for high summer pointing out that the most basic con- It was an all-Amsterdam session, in Europe. stituent components of the globalisation although that thought did not strike me process have been present through- at the time. Geert de Vries (Free Uni- It was a pity that overall attendance at out human history, even if they have versity) reported on a study of ‘Transi- this Congress was noticeably very much come together and gained spectacular tions in Vulnerability’ undertaken for smaller than in the previous three held momentum in recent decades. Mark the Dutch government, reviewing the in Madrid (1990), Bielefeld (1994) and Gibson (Murdoch University, Australia) forms of insecurity faced in modern Montreal (1998); the great distance discussed ‘International Protocol, Glo- societies, within a framework based and cost of reaching Australia from the balisation and Class’, Philip Sutton on Elias’s famous ‘triad of controls’. northern hemisphere where the vast and Stephen Vertigans (Robert Gordon Geert filled the whiteboard with such a majority of the world’s professional University, UK) tackled Islamic fun- fascinating schema that I photographed sociologists live was a deterrent. So too damentalism from an Eliasian point of it (see picture). Wouter Gomperts (Uni- would have been the consequent jetlag view in their paper on ‘Islam, al-Qa’ida versity of Amsterdam, but a psycho- had they fully anticipated it; many others and Globalisation: An Established–Out- analyst and clinical psychologist rather besides me – and having lived in Aus- siders Perspective’, and Joe Maguire than from the ASSSR) took up Bram de tralia I knew what was coming – spoke (Loughborough, UK) added a further Swaan’s notion of ‘dyscivilisation’ in about the sleepless nights followed by layer of insight to his well-established the discussion of genocide and man’s irresistible tidal waves of sleepiness studies of globalisation and the making inhumanity to man, and fascinatingly rolling over us in late afternoon. It was of modern sport. (Joe was also busy linked it to the ideas of ‘dysmentalisa- also striking how few American sociolo- throughout the week as President of tion’ and ‘psychological equivalence’ in gists, post 11 September, made the trip, ISA Research Committee 27: Sociology trying to explain why periods of social although such leading lights as Craig of Sport, in whose bibulous company I trauma can give rise to children who Calhoun, Randall Collins, Neil Smelser, enjoyed dinner one evening). The first grow up to have a defective capacity Edward Tiryakian and Immanuel Waller- session concluded with Artur Bogner for emotional identification with other stein made prominent contributions. (Bielefeld, Germany) talking about his humans and their suffering. And finally new research project on a neglected Bowen Paulle (ASSSR) spoke about his Nevertheless the two sessions on figu- antecedent of modern globalisation, the ongoing PhD study of deprived ‘black’ rational sociology organised by Robert (at first mainly Protestant) British and schools in New York and Amsterdam.

10 Figurations Issue No.18 December 2002 Issue No.18 December 2002 Figurations 11 Figurational perspectives turned up there are disadvantages. The ISA asked maps of a changing world’. The other in other sessions too. Together with us ‘But what is your topic?’ – and it is speakers were the world historian Johann Arnason (La Trobe University, notoriously difficult to define the scope David Christian of San Diego State Melbourne) I had organised another of figurational studies in a few words. University, Califormia, and P. Harre- well-attended Ad Hoc Group on ‘The One possibility is to apply to become moës, Professor of Environmental Sci- Comparative Historical Sociology of a Thematic Group on ‘civilising and ence and Technology at the Technical Empires’, and although like the rest decivilising processes’, although we are University of Denmark. of the Congress this was badly hit by well aware that that does not cover eve- no-shows, papers covered the (much rything that we do. Meanwhile, Johan neglected) Swedish empire of the Arnasson and Willfried Spohn are Past and Present: Long-Term Per- seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, taking the initiative in setting up a The- spectives on the World Today Germany and Russia, and the Safavid matic Group on ‘Comparative–Histori- University College Dublin and Ottoman empires. My own paper cal Sociology’ (it’s astonishing that that 18 October 2002 was on ‘The American Empire’; I was a does not exist already; ‘Comparative little disappointed that my attempt to be Sociology’ does, but is rather narrow in This one-day conference was sponsored as provocative as possible to Americans its focus). At the close of the congress, jointly by the new Institute for the in the audience fell rather flat because our thoughts were inclining towards Study of Social Change and the even there weren’t any! moving to establish Thematic Groups newer Humanities Institute of Ireland both on comparative–historical sociol- at UCD. It brought together for the first In Research Committee 01, Armed ogy and on civilising and decivilising time in a decade Eric Jones and Joop Forces and Conflict Resolution, René processes, and the two then working in Goudsblom who, with Stephen Men- Moelker and Joseph Soeters of the close collaboration. That would give nell were co-authors of the book The Royal Netherlands Military Academy, us an immense pool of twelve sessions, Course of Human History (Armonk, Breda presented the first fruits of their into which surely it would be possi- NY: M.E.Sharpe, 1996). They were work on Norbert Elias’s studies of ble with a little ingenuity to fit almost joined by economic historians, econo- the genesis of the naval profession. any variety of figurational topic, even mists and sociologists based in Dublin. The paper that appeared in the Brit- though neither heading fits completely. The full programme was: ish Journal of Sociology in 1950 was only a small part of a more extensive The next World Congress will be held Johan Goudsblom (Emeritus, Sociol- study, and Moelker and Soeters have in 2006 in Durban, South Africa. Espe- ogy, University of Amsterdam): ‘The unearthed the rest of his typescripts in cially if we do upgrade ourselves to a Expanding Anthroposphere: Extensive the Elias archive in Marbach (see René Thematic Group, we shall have to issue and Intensive Growth Reconsidered’ Moelker’s article above). a three-line whip to make sure that as many members of the figurational net- Eric Jones (Emeritus, Economic His- Ad Hoc Groups are the lowest of the work as possible are there, once again tory, University of Melbourne) ‘Crypto- four categories of group in the ISA in the southern hemisphere (but with- gams [sic]: the Stock of Institutions in hierarchy (the others being Thematic out the jetlag if you are coming from the Pre-industrial West’ Groups, Working Groups, and full Europe). Research Committees). Even though Morgan Kelly (Economics, UCD): we figurationists have got together at SJM ‘Climate and Pre-industrial Population three successive World Congresses, Growth’ we have remained only an Ad Hoc Symposium: Mappae Mundi: Human Group, partly through inertia but partly Society and the Biosphere Cormac Ó Gráda (Economic History, through choice. The very diversity of Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschap- UCD) ‘Adam Smith and Amartya Sen: the topics that figurationists discuss is pij der Wetenschappen Markets and Famines in Pre-industrial most easily accommodated within the Haarlem, 25 May 2002 Europe’ loose framework of ad hoccery. On the other hand, there are disadvantages. The 250th anniversary of the foun- Kevin O’Rourke (Economic History, Ad Hoc Groups have to be organised dation of the Dutch Society for the Trinity College Dublin) ‘From Malthus from scratch for each Congress – they Sciences was celebrated on 25 May to Ohlin: Trade, Growth and Distribu- are not recognised as having a continu- 2002 by a symposium attended by HM tion since 1500’ ing existence – and are given only two Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. To sessions, and they are usually in the mark the occasion, Joop Goudsblom Robert Holton (Sociology, Trinity Col- graveyard evening shift (as they were in and Henk de Vries had co-authored the lege Dublin) ‘When did Globalisation Bielfeld and Brisbane). So, not for the book Mappae Mundi (see review above start? first time, we discussed formalising our in this issue), and a specially bound existence. Although Robert van Krieken copy was presented to the Queen. The conference was organised by had already collected the necessary Stephen Mennell, and chaired by Mary signatures and done most of the paper- Joop Goudsblom gave the first lecture Daly (History, UCD), Secretary of the work for upgrading to Thematic Group, in the symposium, on ‘Mappae Mundi: Royal Irish Academy.

10 Figurations Issue No.18 December 2002 Issue No.18 December 2002 Figurations 11 FORTHCOMING S.Osswald-Bargende: Historical CONTRIBUTIONS TO CONFERENCES Research on Courts from a Gender- FIGURATIONS Relations Viewpoint Höfische Gesellschaft und Zivili- S. Ruppel, Sibling Relations among the The next issue of Figurations will be sationsprozeß in interdisziplinärer Nobility: A Figurational Perspective mailed in May 2003. News and notes Perspektive should be sent to the Editors by 1 Katholischen Akademie Stuttgart– 20.00−21.30 Evening lecture: B. Franke April 2003. Hohenheim and B. Welzel: The Culture of the Bur- Stuttgart, 1–3 May 2003 gundian Court Editor: Stephen Mennell (Conference Languages: German and Assistant Editor: Aoife Rickard English) Saturday 3 May Editorial Address: Department of Sociology, University College Dublin, Provisional Programme 9.00−11.00 Session IV: Cultural Studies Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. Perspectives II Tel. +353-1-716 8504; Fax: +353-1- Thursday 1 May 716 1125. Hans Jürgen Lüsebrink, Court Society E-mail: [email protected] 15.30 Reception and Introduction and Autobiographies in the Romance Countries Contributions should preferably be e- 16.00−18.30 Session I: Biographical Helga Meise: Court Society and Auto- mailed to the Editor, or sent on a disk Aspects biographies in Germanic Countries (formatted for PC-DOS, not Apple Jutta Held: Elias and the History of Art Mackintosh); WordPerfect (up to 5.1), R. Blomert: Elias’s Habilitation Period Stephen Menell, ‘Food, Courts and Microsoft Word, Rich Text and plain in Frankfurt Social Emulation’ text files can all be handled. Do not C. Opitz: Sources for and influences on use embedded footnotes. Hard copy is The Court Society 11.45−12.30 Closing Discussion, fol- accepted reluctantly. To be announced: ‘Court Society’ and lowed by lunch ‘Civilising Process: Similarities and © 2002, Norbert Elias Stichting, J.J. Differences Viottastraat 13, 1071 JM Amsterdam, European Sociological Association Netherlands. 18.30 Dinner Murcia, Spain 23-26 September 2003 Figurations is printed and mailed 20.00 Presentation of the Project for by SISWO: The Netherlands Uni- the Publication of the ‘Norbert Elias Theme: Ageing Societies, New Sociol- versities Institute for Co-ordination Gesammelte Werke’ and of Die höfische ogy of Research in the Social Sciences: Gesellschaft www.siswo.uva.nl The sixth conference of the European Friday 2 May Sociological Association will be held in Graphic Design and Desktop Publish- Murcia in September 2003, and ‘figu- ing: Annette van de Sluis (SISWO). 9.00−13.00 Session II: Critical Appre- rational’ sessions may be proposed if ciations there is sufficient interest. Researchers, institutes or librar- ies who would like to receive this E. Dunning: A Contemporary Reap- Website: www.um.es/ESA newsletter should write to the Figu- praisal of ‘History and Sociology’ E-mail: rations address file manager: Gudy R. Asch: Historical Research on Courts [email protected] Rooyakkers, SISWO, Plantage Mui- and Die höfische Gesellschaft dergracht 4, 1018 TV Amsterdam, R. Kroll: Courtly Romanticism and The Netherlands. Tel. +31-20-527 Research in Romance Literature Today 0660 Fax: +31-20-622 9430. E-mail: W. Schmale: The Revolution and Die [email protected]. Figurations will höfische Gesellschaft be sent to them free of charge.

15.00−18.30 Session III: Cultural Stud- ies Perspectives II

J. Duindam: A Contemporary Exam- ple of Court Society Research: The Valois−Bourbon and the Habsburg Courts in Comparison (ca. 1550−1780) Eckart Schörle, The Courtisatuon of Laughter

12 Figurations Issue No.18 December 2002