# Norbert Elias **Domain:** Figurational sociology **Doc Type:** Developed Person Node **Maturity:** Developed **Collection:** [[collections/Gamification|Gamification Collection]] ## Definition **Norbert Elias** (1897–1990) was a sociologist whose figurational approach studied long historical changes in interdependence, state formation, manners, self-restraint, and violence. With Eric Dunning, he analyzed modern sport as part of a search for controlled excitement within the [[wiki/Civilizing Process|civilizing process]]. ## Significance Elias replaces a simple “pressure release” account with a structural one. Sport does not merely discharge a fixed quantity of aggression; rules, organizations, spectators, and emotional conventions shape the kind of excitement and conduct that becomes possible. ## Sources - Norbert Elias and Eric Dunning, [Quest for Excitement](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/Q/bo58929421.html) ## Routes [[wiki/Civilizing Process|Civilizing Process]] · [[wiki/Mimetic Activity|Mimetic Activity]] · [[wiki/Catharsis vs. Structuration|Catharsis vs. Structuration]]