Three Faces of Civilization: ‘In the Beginning All the World was Ireland’

Abstract

This paper outlines a refi nement of the sociological usage of the concept 'civilization' by distinguishing between three different 'faces' of civilization -as the opposite of barbarism, as equivalent to culture, and in Elias's sense as capturing a particular trajectory of socio-historical development. I then illustrate how this distinction between three different faces of civilization can be deployed in relation to the history of the various attempts by the English to civilize the population of Ireland. Finally, I refl ect on the centrality of the experience of the colonization of Ireland for the English conception of how 'barbarism' should be understood and opposed to 'civilization' (which was then later mobilized in the colonization of the New World), as well as on the ways in which the colonization of Ireland constituted a binding together of both civilizing and decivilizing processes.

‘Did you ever hear of police being called to a beer festival?’ Discourses of merriment, moderation and ‘civilized’ drinking amongst real ale enthusiasts

“…While Elias and his work have fallen in and out of fashion, the study of the contested debates around sensible and problem drinking attest that ‘civilization continues to be an important conceptual and rhetorical reference point’ (van Krieken, 2011: 25). As Liston (2011: 174) observes, Elias intended his work to foster an understanding of human beings ‘in the round’, meaning that movements, emotions and bodies are considered alongside rationalities and judgements.…”

“…This ‘civilized’ conduct first emerged in the gatherings of European courts and then dispersed into wider society. In this sense, Elias’s use of ‘civilization’ shares with the Weberian theory of rationalization and Foucauldian concepts of disciplining a desire to map the long-term changes in relationships between society and individuals where the conduct of the latter has become marked with increased control and regulation (van Krieken, 2011: 26).…”

Fantasy Ireland: Ernest Jones studies the Island

“…This 'gaslighting' of the islanders, pathologising their resistance to the colonial power, speaks to the worst aspects of the colonialmainlander gaze and brings us back to thinking about another way the island can appeal to outsiders; islands are disposed to act as advance indicators or extreme reproductions of what is present or future elsewhere (Baldacchino, 2007, p. 167). Ireland's proximity and containment as an island on the Celtic fringe of Europe allows Robert van Krieken (2011) to coin the phrase 'laboratory of Empire' (p. 41) to describe how concepts of civilisation versus barbarism, used to legitimise colonial enterprise in the New World, first took shape in 1600s Ireland, concluding that what it means to be non-European was first constructed within Europe (p. 31). Humphrey Gilbert's and, later, Sir Walter Raleigh's experiences in subduing an indigenous population 'with an alien culture' in Ireland would provide a template for their later expeditions in the settlement of other colonies (p. 41).…”

Revisiting Norbert Elias's Sociology of Community: Learning from the Leicester Re-Studies

“…We would like to thank the various individuals and institutions that have supported our research. This research received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (grant R000223653), the University of Leicester Research Committee (grant FS14002) and the University of Leicester College of Social Science Research Development Fund (2010 and2011). We are grateful to the staff at the Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Marbach, and to the Norbert Elias foundation for allowing us to quote Elias's archived papers.…”

“…The move away from the fixed, linear education to work trajectories of the 1960s, the increased transitions into precarious employment, underemployment or mass unemployment have all meant that the processes through which young people acquire the behavioural standards of adulthood have become less certain and more complex. This, along with the accompanying de-industrialization of these communities, may represent something of a ‘decivilizing process’ (see, for example, Mennell, 1990; Van Krieken, 1999, 2011; De Swann, 2003) and a breakdown ‘in the stability and consistency of on-going social relations’ (Van Krieken, 1999: 297).…”