Norbert Elias and Women: Life, Texts and New Perspectives on Gender Issues

Abstract

Sex, gender and gender relations are generally considered minor issues in Norbert Elias’s historical sociology. However, the sociologist placed greater emphasis on gender relations and inequalities than many of his contemporaries did. For Elias’s readers, gender relations and their transformations in terms of the power balance between sexes are falling under the theory of established-outsiders relations and represent a rather crucial aspect of the civilising process(es). Gender relations and their transformations also refer, in Elias’s work, to the emancipatory role of law and rights, to transformations of sensibilities, to increasing individualisation and integration of humanity. Starting not from gender studies but from a situated reading of Elias’s texts, this article also suggests that re-exploring certain aspects of Elias’s life, like his relationship to women and men, makes sense so we can better understand his sociology and its topicality in the post-#MeToo context.