Norman Gabriel is a sociologist teaching Childhood Studies at the University of Essex. Inspired by Norbert Elias, his research interests are in relational sociology and the sociology of early childhood. With Professor Stephen Mennell he co-edited, 'Norbert Elias and Figurational Research: Processual Thinking in Sociology' (2011), a Monograph for The Sociological Review series. He is currently working on a book on Norbert Elias's political sociology (co-authored with Professor Lars Bo Kaspersen).