The Sociogenesis of the Přemyslid Principality: Norbert Elias’s Theory and Early Czech State Cover Image

Sociogeneze přemyslovského knížectví: Teorie Norberta Eliase a raný český stát
The Sociogenesis of the Přemyslid Principality: Norbert Elias’s Theory and Early Czech State

Author(s): Jan Kalenda
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Nakladatelství Karolinum
Keywords: coloniality; Aníbal Quijano; modernity; Latin America; eurocentrism; decolonisation of social sciences; postcolonial critique

Summary/Abstract: This study deals with application of the Norbert Elias’s theory of sociogenesis to the case of early Czech state formation. For this purpose we focus on the mechanisms of emergence and establishing of the state monopoly, as well as on the aspects of decentralization and privatization of state power during reign of first Přemyslid dukes – from 860 to 1230 AD. In the second place, the article tries to compare the process of sociogenesis in the Western Europe with the dynamics of state formation that was typical for the contemporary Czech lands. In this context we claim that Elias made several mistakes, because he supposed that features and mechanisms of state formation were fairly unitary everywhere Europe. We try to challenge this notion show that the history of state making in the Central European region has many autonomous and unique aspects that differentiate it from social dynamics in other parts of the continent. From this critical pointof view, the article attempts a reformulation of Elias’s theory for the Central European area.

  • Issue Year: 2012
  • Issue No: 1-2
  • Page Range: 95-119
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Czech
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