Procesy monopolizacji i państwo w myśli Norberta Eliasa

Abstract

The main aim of the article is to discuss the concept of the European state in Norbert Elias’ works. Elias’ major books, The Court Society and The Civilizing Process, contain an interesting concept of the state, which to some extent is similar to interpretations of the state found in postwar works on historical macrosociology (especially those written in the US), but also has special features and is thereby in keeping with the originality of the Eliasian oeuvre. Sources used by Elias in his analysis of the state are highlighted in the article, especially those that also became important for other historical sociologists studying the development of the state. Attention focuses on early modernity, and in particular on absolutism as a form of government crucial to the development of centralised administrative institutions.