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Historical sociology and research on state formation : the German tradition revisited -- Towards a theoretical framework : rereading Norbert Elias -- The decline of the Carolingian Empire and the disintegration of Europe. The figuration of feudal survival units, 800- -- He resurgence of centripetal forces : 1050- -- Centripetal forces. Two steps forward, one step back, 1300-1500 -- The European figuration of survival units 1494-1659 : from local to continental wars - the survival units in France, England, and Germany -- The "military revolution" -- The rise of civil society and a monetary economy -- Sovereignty : from universality to particularity and from fragmentation to territorialization -- France : from Stände-Staat to territorial state -- England : a territorial centralized Stände-Staat - 1500-1660 -- Germany - the competing survival units -- The struggle for recognition - winners and losers -- Some concluding remarks.

This paper takes its point of departure from an observation made by Norbert Elias in his book The Germans. Many (smaller) European states were confronted by Germany in various wars and conflicts and states such as Denmark suffered defeats. Following from this, Elias poses the question as to how the Danish people came to terms with this reality-shock. This paper claims that the unintended consequence of the Danish defeat was the development of a new national habitus with a strong and particular form of nationalism. This nationalism not only tied the nation to the state but went much further by defining the nation as the people and the civil society. It became a deeply sedimented form of nationalism, which provided Denmark with a very strong social cohesion. The central argument concerns this strong Danish habitus linked to this form of nationalism. This paper argues that this habitus has become more problematic during the last 30 years in the era of globalisation. The strong Danish habitus generates resistance towards immigration, acceptance of refugees, the EU, and the internationalisation of education – just to mention some problematic areas. Consequently, Denmark, as a small open economy depending on multilateralism and internationalisation, has difficulties fully embracing globalisation.

In taking a statist perspective inspired by Hegel, Clausewitz and C. Schmitt this article provides an analysis of the period from the early seventeenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, when Denmark evolved towards a liberal-democratic state based on a written constitution. It is argued that Denmark became a democracy as an unintended consequence of military reforms. Whereas most analyses on state formation in early modern Europe contain some form of path dependency, this work argues that the Danish case clearly demonstrates that no path dependency model can in any satisfying sense explain the two crucial years in the formation and change of the Danish state, 1660 (the introduction of the Absolutist rule) and 1849 (the introduction of the liberal-democratic constitution). Consequently, the Danish development challenges commonly held views of state formation processes in Europe.

"Examining the historical and social trajectories involved in the continuous development of civil society, this volume reveals the contextual nature of the process. Through empirical studies focusing primarily on Denmark and covering the period from 1849 to the present day, it analyses the manner in which civil society has been practised and transformed over time. Presenting a new theoretical framework informed by a relational and processual perspective, the book sheds new light on familiar questions pertaining to civil society, the production of its boundaries and spaces of action, and the means by which these spaces can become causal factors. A fresh intervention in the study of a concept that has been central in defining ideas of solidarity and the common good, and to which researchers and politicians look for solutions to the great challenges of our time, Civil Society: Between Concepts and Empirical Grounds will appeal to scholars of sociology, politics, history and philosophy with interests in civil society"--