This Introduction begins by providing examples of the globalization of the idea of civilization – that is, its dissemination beyond Europe to other regions in the 19th century. The illustrations indicate the value of Elias's analysis of state-formation and conceptions of civilized relations. They reveal the validity of his thesis that the civilizing process did not simply transform European societies but secured global change as a result of their political and cultural dominance and the enormous pressures that were placed on non-European societies to replicate modern state structures and conceptions of civilized behaviour. Elias's explanation of the European civilizing process will be considered in Chapter 2. A prior task is to explain why engaging with Elias's writings is valuable and what it adds to better-known lines of inquiry. Promoting that objective requires a more detailed analysis of Elias's distinctive method (as opposed to his methodology). The aim is to explain process-sociological thinking to readers who may be unfamiliar with the perspective by concentrating on eight central themes in that approach to the social world. The discussion begins with comments on how the concept of civilization ‘went global’ and why Elias's writings are central to understanding how that process took place.

The global language of civilization

The point of departure of this investigation is that the idea of civilization is ubiquitous in the contemporary world. In the recent period, it has been especially prominent in official statements, media reports and academic reflections on terrorist acts of violence. But, as Elias observed, the concept has not always enjoyed that high profile or status. His explanation of its rise maintained that the discourse of civilization became especially prominent among a select circle of social reformers that belonged to the French ruling strata in the last quarter of the 18th century. It quickly spread to other European governing elites who admired and set about adopting the rituals and manners of French absolutist court society. During the 19th century, the ascendant middle classes employed the concept to express their antipathy to cruel and degrading forms of punishment that seemed to them to be barbaric and obsolescent in a progressive bourgeois era. Notions of civilization quickly became central to the personal and collective identities of the groups involved.