Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Book | Chapter

211807

Boxing and duelling

critical remarks on Elias on violence and state-formation from a historical perspective

James Sharpe

pp. 217-233

Abstract

This essay attempts to examine Norbert Elias's views on the connection between state- formation and the decline of violence, and to examine his analyses boxing and duelling within that context. Crucially, recent research and rethinking on French absolutism now presents a very different interpretation of that phenomenon from that which was available to Elias in the early twentieth century. Moreover, work on English state-formation has laid emphasis on the emergence of the "fiscal-military state after 1688, and also on the importance of a "history from below" approach to state-formation. Elias's interpretation of boxing in England and duelling in both England and France is re-assessed in the light of these historiographical developments.

Publication details

Published in:

Haut Jan, Dolan Paddy, Reicher Dieter, Sánchez García Raúl (2018) Excitement processes: Norbert Elias's unpublished works on sports, leisure, body, culture. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 217-233

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-14912-3_9

Full citation:

Sharpe James (2018) „Boxing and duelling: critical remarks on Elias on violence and state-formation from a historical perspective“, In: J. Haut, P. Dolan, D. Reicher & R. Sánchez García (eds.), Excitement processes, Dordrecht, Springer, 217–233.