Norbert Elias has been increasingly recognised as one of the most important sociologists of the twentieth century and, moreover, one whose writings retain their significance and relevance for the twenty-first century. This monograph provides a unique perspective on Elias's thought.

Introduction ( Chris Shilling) 1. Handing over the torch: intergenerational processes in figurational sociology (Norman Gabriel and Stephen Mennell) 2. Three faces of civilization: `In the beginning all the world was Ireland' (Robert van Krieken) 3. Process sociology and international relations (Andrew Linklater) 4. Entropy, the anthroposphere and the ecology of civilization: An essay on the problem of `liberalism in one village' in the long view (Stephen Quilley) 5. Norbert Elias's post-philosophical sociology: from `critique' to relative detachment (Richard Kilminster) 6. Towards a process-oriented methodology: modern social science research methods and Norbert Elias's figurational sociology (Nina Baur and Stefanie Ernst) 7. How civilizing processes continued: towards an informalization of manners and a third nature personality (Cas Wouters) 8. Sport and leisure (Katie Liston) 9. A land of a hundred thousand welcomes? Understanding established and outsiders relations in Ireland (Steven Loyal) 10. Norbert Elias and developmental psychology (Norman Gabriel) 11. Norbert Elias, the civilizing process and penal development in modern society (John Pratt) 12. Meetings: the frontline of civilization (Wilbert van Vree) Notes on contributors Index