# Civilizing Process **Domain:** Historical sociology **Doc Type:** Developed Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed **Collection:** [[collections/Gamification|Gamification Collection]] ## Definition The **civilizing process** is Norbert Elias's account of long-run changes in state consolidation, social interdependence, manners, emotional restraint, and monopolies of legitimate violence. It is a historical sociology, not a claim that history proceeds automatically toward moral improvement. ## Relation to sport Elias and Dunning treat modern sport as regulated contest within this process. Rules constrain permissible force, organizations standardize adjudication, and spectators participate in controlled uncertainty. Violence is not simply removed; the conditions under which it can be expressed are reorganized. ## Boundary “Civilizing” is an analytic term carrying Eurocentric risks. It must not be used to rank peoples or excuse the violence of states that monopolize coercion. ## Sources - Norbert Elias and Eric Dunning, [Quest for Excitement](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/Q/bo58929421.html) ## Routes [[wiki/Norbert Elias|Norbert Elias]] · [[wiki/Eric Dunning|Eric Dunning]] · [[wiki/Mimetic Activity|Mimetic Activity]] · [[wiki/Structuration|Structuration]] · [[wiki/Tournament as a Symbolic Administration Layer|Tournament as a Symbolic Administration Layer]] · [[articles/gamification/Lex Sportiva and Winning Without Bloodshed|Lex Sportiva and Winning Without Bloodshed]]