Extract
[...] He could have just said 'we change, everyone changes, but it's not the same speed, nor the same direction'. In the end, he makes a plea. But is he not a bit dodging the issue, instead of saying things straightforwardly? Yes, societies evolve, but it's not necessarily for the better. He takes a simple concept, he complicates it to the core, and then, in the end, he still makes you doubt whether what we call 'progress' is really progress. Social Integration He continues on social integration: integration rhymes with disappearance. [...]
[...] What's really interesting is that he understands that the quest for individuality is a real struggle in modern society. On the one hand, you want to be unique, to stand out from others, and on the other hand, society pushes you to conform, to fit into boxes. So, you find yourself between two chairs: your desire for freedom and the social expectations that keep you within a very precise framework. It's what he calls the 'civilizing process': the more we move towards what we believe to be a free society, the more we realize that we're caught up in networks of dependencies. [...]
[...] So, we can never really erase the tensions between the individual and the collective. Human evolution is not linear. Even though civilization has progressed, it can also regress, particularly when it comes to controlling emotions and social behaviors. This is a phenomenon he calls 'informalization': Very clearly, we're not as civilized as we think we are. It's his way of telling us that ultimately the 'civilizing process' is never really 'finished'. Even if we think we've tamed our impulses, there's always a risk that everything will erupt again. [...]
[...] He was a survivor. But he takes advantage of it to explain how social norms have changed over the centuries, especially in the Middle Ages, where everything was ultra-rigid. His point of view? It's that for him, oneself is a whole historical context that has forged our personality. - The consciousness of oneself, always in society. Elias talks about how our small consciousness of ourselves, it wasn't born from nowhere. We grow up with the idea that we are all unique individuals, but in fact, society has made us. [...]
[...] He tackles the idea that 'less developed' societies are always lagging behind, and that the more developed ones have it all figured out. He criticizes a bit this mentality of 'we're modern, and you're behind'. And in fact, this arrogance is often found in Western discourse. For Elias, it's not as simple as that. It's not just a question of being 'advanced' or 'primitive'. He talks about another form of evolution, not necessarily linear, where the differences between societies are much more nuanced. [...]
