PRESENT-DAY CAPITALISM AND CIVILIZATION - LOOKING FOR ANSWERS IN ELIAS,NORBERT THEORY OF THE CIVILIZING PROCESS

Norbert Elias's theory of the civilizing process must be included amon g the lasting achievements of the twentieth century. Originally concei ved as a notional model to describe political power struggles, the the ory defined civilization as a two-stage process on taxation is first d eveloped and later democratized. Elias's wider assumption that economi c power struggles follow the same civilization logic has as yet not be en borne out. There has certainly been no true democratization of the structures of economic power and monopoly in Western society. The late st revolutions in production and information technology have shifted t he internal balance of social power in favor of the business elite to the detriment of the dependent work force. At the same time, the socia l restraints which force the exercise of self-restraint by business an d political leaders have weakened. Following decades of progress, the civilization curve for the Western social model is once again pointing downwards.