Norbert Elias, George Herbert Mead, and the Promise of Embodied Sociology

This paper examines the continuity between the research programs of Norbert Elias and George Herbert Mead. It shows that the two authors left us with the outlines of a sociological theory that is dialectical, process oriented, alert to the interplay of affect, reason, and society, and dedicated to an empirical inquiry into the embodied nature of socio-psychological realty. After reviewing the areas where the two researchers converge and follow separate routs, I discuss recent developments in social neuroscience and behavioral epigenetics that support the program of embodied sociology articulated by Norbert Elias and George Herbert Mead.