The idea of civilization recurs frequently in academic and non-academic reflections on international politics. However, international relations academic writings on civilization have failed to acknowledge the major 20th Century analysis that examined the processes through which Europeans came to regard themselves as uniquely civilized - Norbert Elias's On the Process of Civilization. This book provides a comprehensive exploration of the significance of Elias's reflections on civilization for international relations. It explains the working principles of an Eliasian, or process-sociological, approach to civilization and the global order and demonstrates how the interdependencies between state-formation, colonialism and an emergent international society shaped the European 'civilizing process.'

Andrew Linklater is Woodrow Wilson Professor of International Politics at Aberystwyth University.

Introduction: A Process-Sociological Approach to Understanding Civilization
The Return of Discourses of Civilization and Barbarism
Elias's Explanation of the European Civilizing Process
The Nation-State, War and Human Equality
The Classical European 'Standard of Civilization'
Civilization, Diplomacy and the Enlargement of International Society
Standards of Civilization in the Post-European Global Order
Civilizing Processes at the Level of Humanity as a Whole
Summary and Conclusions