The United Kingdom and British Empire: A Figurational Approach

Drawing upon the work of Norbert Elias and the process [figurational] sociology perspective, this article examines how state formation processes are related to, and, affected by, expanding and declining chains of international interdependence. In contrast to civic and ethnic conceptions, this approach focuses on the emergence of the nation/nation-state as grounded in broader processes of historical and social development. In doing so, state formation processes within the United Kingdom are related to the expansion and decline of the British Empire. That is, by focusing on the functional dynamics that are embedded in collective groups, one is able to consider how the UK’s ‘state’ and ‘imperial’ figurations were interdependently related to changes in both the UK and the former British Empire. Consequently, by locating contemporary UK relations in the historical context of former imperial relationships, nationalism studies can go ‘beyond’ the nation/nation-state in order to include broader processes of imperial expansion and decline. Here, the relationship between empire and nationalism can offer a valuable insight into contemporary political movements, especially within former imperial groups

Memórias da Infância e da Educação: abordagens eliasianas sobre as mulheres

Relações sociais entre indivíduos estão pautadas pela experiência de educação e formação que cada um traz consigo ao longo da vida, pelo modo como se constituem individual e coletivamente. A partir de Elias e da metodologia da história oral, o objetivo foi buscar nas memórias de infância de sete mulheres, professoras de crianças, nascidas entre 1950 e 1970, a formação e a educação que se constituiu na infância em espaços privados e domésticos. Apreendeu-se que a escolha profissional tem vínculos com a educação feminina, normatizada por regras de controle e civilidade

Les grandes épidémies et la civilisation des mœurs

Die großen Epidemien und die Zivilisierung der Sitten. Gegen die landläufige Vorstellung einer «hygienischen» Determinierung des Wandels der Sitten seit dem Mittelalter zeigt die von Norbert Elias' Arbeiten inspirierte Untersuchung des Zusammenhangs von sozialen Strukturen und sozialer Behandlung der großen Epidemien die genuin sozialen, «Hygienisierung» ermöglichenden Determinierungen.Anhand der Untersuchung von vier epidemischen Krankheiten — Lepra, Pest, Syphilis und Cholera — lassen sich die sozialen Bedingungen der Vorstellung über Ansteckung sowie der davon induzierten Präventivmaßnahmen, insbesondere der Ausschluß der Kranken, rekonstruieren.The Great Epidemics and the Civilizing Process. Contrary to the now widespread idea of a «sanitary» determination of the changes in mores since the Middle Ages, analysis of the relationship between social structures and the social response to the great epidemies, inspired by the work of Norbert Elias, reveals the specifically social determinations which make «hygienieization» possible. A study of four epidemic diseases —leprosy, the plague, syphilis and cholera— makes it possible to reconstruct the social conditions of the representation of contagion and the preventive practices which they induce — in particular, methods of excluding the sick.Les grandes épidémies et la civilisation des moeurs. Contre l'idée, communément admise aujourd'hui, d'une détermination «hygiénique» des transformations des moeurs depuis le Moyen-Age, l'analyse des relations entre structures sociales et traitement social des grandes épidémies, inspirée par les recherches de Norbert Elias, fait apparaître les déterminations proprement sociales qui rendent l'«hygiénisation» possible. A travers l'étude de quatre maladies épidémiques —la lèpre, la peste, la syphilis et le choléra—, on peut reconstruire les conditions sociales de la représentation de la contagion et les pratiques préventives qu'elles induisent, notamment les procédures d'exclusion des malades.Las grandes epidemias y la civilización de las costumbres. Contra la idea, comunmente admitida hoy, de una determinación «higiénica» de las transformaciones de las costumbres después de la Edad Media, el analísis de las relaciones entre estructuras sociales y tratamiento social de las grandes epidemias, inspirado por las investigaciones de Norbert Elias, muestra las determinaciones propiamente sociales que hacen la «higienización» posible. A través del estudio de cuatro enfermedades epidémicas —la lepra, la peste, la sífilis y el cólera— se puede reconstruir las condiciones sociales de la representación del contagio y las prácticas preventivas que ellas inducen, especialmente los procedimientos de exclusión de los enfermos.Goudsblom Johan. Les grandes épidémies et la civilisation des mœurs. In: Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales. Vol. 68, juin 1987. Épidémies, malades, médecins. pp. 3-14