In Presentacion de dos textos de Norbert Elias (Introduction to Two Texts by Norbert Elias), Ramon Ramos Torre (U Complutense de Madrid, E-28049 Spain) & Helena Bejar introduce two works by Norbert Elias, suggesting that the articles are characteristic of Elias & underscore the presence & importance of literature in his sociology. The articles make clear his conception of the role of sociologist as distant observer, & exemplify the presence of the biographical & personal in his sociology. In Civilizacion y violencia ([Civilization and Violence] orginally published in Aesthetik & Communikation, 1981, 43, 5-12), Elias describes how violence operates within a civilized society, breaking out after society pacifies social relationships in an incomplete & unequal process. (...) M. Pflum

Source: Sociological Abstracts Inc.