Norbert Elias on Relations: Insights and Perspectives

Abstract

The central argument of this chapter is that Norbert Elias’s figurational theory adds significant sharpness, rigor, and interdisciplinary impetus to relational sociology by carefully focusing on both the ontological and epistemological aspects of the concept of “relations.” Interestingly, Elias’s broad interdisciplinary concern with the long-term processes of the historical development of human society and the human condition substantially helps us define what social relations are and how we know them, as well as what relational sociology is and should be.