In his
famous "The Civilizing Process" sociologist Norbert Elias presents
his perception of western societies have socially constructed the individual's habitus.
Though Elias in not a Marxist thinker, his position according to which reality
shapes consciousness places him close to Marx. In "The Civilizing
Process" Elias describes a prolonged process of structural changes in
western society since the Middle Ages and up to modern times which center on
changes in the division of labor and the consolidation of political authority
and the monopolization of physical power. These processes, according to Elias,
have led to increasing mutual dependence in Western societies and have brought
about psychological implications such as self-restraint and control that did
not exist before. In Freudian terms, Elias speaks of a new "Super-Ego"
which evolved in modern times.
According
to Elias, monopolization, and especially the monopolization of physical force
and violence warranted more self-restraint from both the government and the individual.
In "The civilizing Process" Elias talks about "a chain of mutual
dependence" which makes people dependent upon each other in order to perform
various tasks and achieve their goals. This, according to Elias, explains why societies
required more stability, regularity and supervision. Transportation and the
development of markets increased human interactions between people who found themselves
dependent on each other even without direct contact. This according to Elias
has led for the need to coordinate actions and establish the "rules of the
game". Playing be the rules meant a growing demand for self restraint.
Elias describes the advancement of new
functions and behavior patterns in the civilizing process of different groups. One
of the consequences of these changes is the blurring of class differences. For example
labor was usually considered the duty of the lower classes while the higher
ones were free from it. In modern western civilization almost everybody works. This
process began in Europe and was spread across sees, eventually with the aid of
colonialism.
In "The
Civilizing Process" Norbert Elias argues that the process of civilization
in not linear and consistent. The multiplicity of social groups, as well as the
varying and uneven sources of change, have created a variety of social behaviors
and formations. However Elias does not see this as a source of legitimate
social heterogeneity but rather a different phases in the course of the hegemonic
formation of the western habitus.
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