Norbert Elias

This book locates Elias's work clearly within the development of sociology and also against the background of current debates.

Between the 1930s and the 1980s he developed a unique approach to social theory which is now beginning to take root in contemporary social research and theory. Since the translation of his work into English began to accelerate in the 1980s, a growing number of books and articles on topics including health, sexuality, crime, national and ethnic identity, femininity and globalization, in a variety of disciplines, make positive reference to Elias as an authority on the history of emotions, identity, violence, the body and state formation.

Robert van Krieken is Professor of Sociology at the University of Sydney, Australia. He is author of Children and the State: Social Control and the Formation of Australian Child Welfare (Allen & Unwin 1992), and co-author of Celebrity and the Law (Federation Press, 2010) as well as the leading Australian sociology textbook, Sociology (Pearson, 2010). His book Celebrity Society will be published by Routledge in May 2012. Born in Hong Kong of Dutch parents, he completed his BA Honours degree at the University of New South Wales, where he also gained his PhD, and has an LLB degree from the University of Sydney. At the University of Sydney, he played a central role in the establishment of the sociology program, and more recently a program in socio-legal studies. He is currently (2010-2014) Vice-President of the International Sociological Association, and serves on a number of journal editorial boards.