Organizing one’s life: Self-help literature and management of conduct and the emotions

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse self-help books using an analytical approach based on the civilization process theory of Norbert Elias, which explains the code for management of conduct and the emotions, here referred to as the «reflective
civilization code». The study of the code involves a presentation of its contents as well as a statement of the arguments used to support advice and precepts regarding the regulation of conduct and the emotions. Finally, we propose a characterization of the social bases of the code taking the theoretical contributions of the so-called «Anglo-Foucaultian» theories as a model.