This new edition of this classic text from one of the major figures of world sociology includes an introduction published in English for the first time. In Norbert Elias?s hands, a local community study of tense relations between an established group and outsiders becomes a microcosm that illuminates a wide range of sociological configurations including racial, ethnic, class and gender relations.The Established and the Outsiders examines the mechanisms of stigmatization, taboo and gossip, monopolization of power, collective fantasy and `we? and `they? images which support and reinforce divisions in society. Developing aspects of Elias?s thinking that relate his work to current sociological concerns, it presents the