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To be held in Bogota from 17 to 20 November 2020 at the National University of Colombia, Bogot&#225; campusPresentationThe National University of Colombia and the Department of Citizen Culture of the Secretary of Culture, Recreation and Sport of Bogota have joined forces to organize the upcoming XVIII International Symposium on Civilizing Processes (SIPC) to be held in Bogota from 17 to 20 November 2020 at the National University of Colombia, Bogot&#225; campus. The SIPCs were born in 1996 on a Brazilian initiative and have been held every two years to encourage the exchange of ideas and research results among scientists from various disciplines who find in Norbert Elias&#8217; work a source of guidance in facing the challenges of today&#8217;s world and who share an interest in social sciences adjusted to reality. It is in this spirit that the call for the XVIII SIPC 2020 is addressed to those interested from all geographical and disciplinary latitudes. In order to facilitate a comprehensive gathering, there will be simultaneous translation (Portuguese, Spanish, English) for those sessions that require it. In the interest of forming a new generation of the international Eliasian community, speakers who are students at any level (including doctoral students) will be released from any registration fees.&#160;Also, the Norbert Elias Foundation is offering scholarships to cover financial costs to participants from all over the world. For more information please visit our website:&#160;https://sipc2020english.wordpress.com/All proposals on any subject are welcome. The proposals that will be specially promoted for this symposium are the following:Socio-cultural conditions and historical transformation of human violenceBy establishing the historical development trends of emotional life and emotional controls, Elias provided a fundamental analytical tool for understanding the phenomenon of human violence. Such a trend emerges in Elias&#8217; work in relation to the social processes of monopolization of violence and division of labor. This makes it possible to relate the phenomena of violence to broader socio-cultural contexts and to specific stages of historical development, thus achieving a more complete understanding of the complexity of the phenomenon and its possible causes.Contributions of neuroscience to the understanding of socio-cultural behaviourElias&#8217; work is characterized, among other things, by the sustained intention of connecting the different levels of human development; from his perspective, biological conditions participated in the constitution of the socio-cultural level of organization, but they were also modified by it. Recent findings in neuroscience, especially those related to the plasticity of the brain and its organization based on sociocultural experience, have come to support that theoretical position. The rapid advance of neuroscientific research today allows us to update the problems and questions Elias has advanced and to adjust his preliminary answers.Digital citizenship and citizen participationThe rapid expansion of digital communications is accompanied by enormous potentials and challenges that have barely been identified. Elias can be of great help in studying the forms of interaction and interdependence that have emerged in the process of digitalization, which are less and less linked to the geographical location of the participants. These are forms that offer new potentials for inclusion and participation that, in addition to certain technical conditions, also pose behavioural challenges. What they are and to what extent they can be promoted are questions that require precise research. The way in which people are linked in networks, which are now digital, and the features of the new constraints and possibilities for social action that these links entail, are part of a long-term historical process that invites us to think about this perspective, as well as the patterns and interests that shape the future of social interdependencies.Education in the processes of human development.On several occasions Elias observed that as the process of socio-cultural complexity advanced, so did the demands on the formation of new generations. Education thus appears to be structurally related to the processes of historical development of humanity; in effect, functional specialization linked to the division of labor and the concomitant need to professionalize human activities increased the demands on education systems and stimulated the development of their pedagogical techniques. Elias&#8217; conclusions in this regard invite reflection on the cognitive demands at different moments of historical development and on the degree of adjustment between education systems and the needs of contemporary society.The epistemological presuppositions of economic thought and political theoryThe current heated debates regarding the possibility of reconstructing the structures of the current economic and political order must solve the assumptions about human nature and about the concrete conditions of constructivity. The tendency to consider such nature as immutable and the notable uncertainties about the processes of cultural constructivity have&#160;blocked&#160;the possibility of thinking of viable alternatives for the reorganization of economic and political structures. The long-term historical reconstruction carried out by Elias has revealed the degree of possible accommodation of human nature to social needs, while warning about the concrete conditions in which the construction of cultural forms of representation takes place. These empirically based conclusions offer the possibility of overcoming the blockage and could support realistic alternatives for rethinking current political and economic relations.Submission GuidelinesResearchers and other scholars interested are invited to participate in this encounter.&#160;Proposals for papers should be sent in the form of an abstrac:no later than May 4, 2020to the following e-mail address:&#160;simposioelias2020@gmail.com.The abstract should not exceed 500 words.The acceptance of the papers from the scientific committee will be announced on 15 July.Registration fee: 200,000 Colombian pesos.Student speakers (with certificate of their status) do not pay registration.To apply to the Norbert Elias Foundation bursaries please visit our website:&#160;https://sipc2020english.wordpress.com/apply-to-nobert-elias-foundation-bursaries/We will soon provide more information on the registration process.OrganizerDavid Sierra (Associate Doctor UMR 5316 Litt&#38;Arts, University Grenoble Alps, France).Scientific committeeJanneth Aldana (Pontifical Javeriana University, Bogota)Diego Barrag&#225;n (Federal University Grande Dourados, Brazil)Juan Manuel Jaramillo (National University of Colombia, Bogota)Wilson Lara (National University of Colombia, Bogota)Daniel P&#233;rez (National University of Colombia, Bogota)Tatiana Roncancio (National University of Colombia, Bogota)Oscar Saidiza (National University of Colombia, Bogota)Samuel Vanegas (Pontifical Javeriana University, Bogota)Vera Weiler (National University of Colombia, Bogota)