Norbert Elias’s Concept of the Civilizing Process Ando Jacob Riis’s Observations on the Living Conditions of Immigrants in How the Other Half Lives.

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1) Discuss the question whether Elias’s concept of the civilizing process and / or his theory of established-outsider relations are applicable to Jacob Riis’s observations on the living conditions of immigrants in How the Other Half Lives. Surely some ideas of Norbert Elias´ theories seem to be convenient for the situation described in How the Other Half Lives. Elias describes the civilizing process as a long-term change of personality structures that are based on changes in social structures. Factors of this change are the continuing technical advancements and the involved competition. This leads to the centralization of societies and in accordance to interdependencies between people and societies. On the other hand this leads to a personal self-restraint. Like all social processes this civilizing process is directed but it is not intended and reversible. According to this process the New York of the 19th century, to more precise the Lower East Side of Manhatten has already been relatively sophisticated but the general concept of interacting social chains will always be applicable. Civilizing processes can be found wherever several people live together, are dependent on one another and emerges a competitive pressure. In our precise situation the New York of the 19th century has been invaded by thousands of immigrants from all over the world and the demand for housing rose enormously. The native-born New Yorkers owned the houses and invented the system of tenements. What was first a good solution for both sides, the owners and the immigrants soon became very awful circumstances for the new dwellers. The landlords took advantage of the high demand for lodging and as a result the flats became smaller and smaller and the rental prices did not stop to rise. The living spaces got even smaller and finally diseases like smallpox and plague began to spread. This

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