Year: 2002
Type: article
Abstract: «Violence and the Civilising Process: Does it work?» – a question raised by Pieter Spierenburg in a recent issue of CHS will be the reference point for the following article. In contrast to Spierenburg my answer to this question is: ‘No, it does not’. First I comment on the validity of late medieval and early modern ‘homicide rates’ for the development of a general history of violence. A long-term decline in violence, as it is postulated by Spierenburg, cannot be found in the sources. I will then deal with the role of violence within the theory of civilisation. Norbert Elias’ interpretations are based on both a naïve reading of the source material and a simplistic understanding of violence which regards violence as a human ‘drive’ that needs to be suppressed by social control. In the third and final part of this article I try to develop an alternative explanation of violence which views violence as a meaningful and culturally encoded form of social action. Accordingly, violence should not only be perceived as an object of social control but also as a means of social control.
Source: Crime Histoire et Sociétés
DOI: 10.4000/chs.418
Author: Gerd Schwerhoff
Institution: Technische Universität Dresden
Language: French
Topic: Sociology and Norbert Elias
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2092182792