Modernity and the regulation of bodies: Elias meets Foucault

Abstract

Aims: This article seeks to reflect on the possibility of a meeting ground where Michel Foucault and Norbert Elias’ thought comes together around the issue of the regulation of drives and bodily practices within modernity. Such drives – among which we highlight the use of force and violence, as well as the acceptable regulation of their release and applications – have been the object of particular procedures within the modern era, whether seen in relation to individuals or from to the social body.