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Space, Difference, Everyday Life: Reading Henri Lefebvre

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Space, Difference, Everyday Life: Reading Henri Lefebvre SPACE, DIFFERENCE, EVERYDAY LIFE Space, Difference, Everyday Life presents a state-of-the-art collection of essays engaging Henri Lefebvre’s oeuvre, explicating this inimitable French Marxist’s longstanding commitment to “urbanize revolutionary theory and revolutionize urban theory.” Belatedly, Lefebvre’s reputation has grown exponentially as a leading figure in European philosophy and social theory; and his pioneering works on space, everyday life, and global urbanization have revitalized urban theory, geography, planning, architecture, and cultural studies. In this context, this volume breaks new ground in spatial disciplines as well as critical theory: first, by bridging “spatial” Lefebvre discussions with broader reflections on his contributions to radical thought; second, by comparing influential Anglo-American explorations on Lefebvre’s work with those of the Continental—especially French and German—traditions; and, third, by proposing a new “third wave” of Lefebvre scholarship, going beyond both urban “political-economic” critiques and “postmodern-geographical” appropriations, to propose new trajectories for reading Lefebvre today.A highly nuanced, heterodox and provocative Lefebvre emerges in these pages–creatively involved in postwar intellectual debates, while offering us various strategies to intervene usefully in contemporary questions concerning space, time, difference, urbanization, state, colonizaton, and radical politics. Kanishka Goonewardena was trained as an architect in Sri Lanka and now teaches urban design and critical theory at the University of Toronto. He is working on two books,The Future of Planning at the “End of History”(Routledge forthcoming) and The Urban Sensorium:Space, Ideology and the Aestheticization of Politics, exploring the making of cities, capitalism, and ideology. Stefan Kipfer teaches urbanization, urban politics, and planning in the Faculty of Environmental Studies,York University,Toronto. Informed by urban social theory, especially Henri Lefebvre, Frantz Fanon, and Antonio Gramsci, his research is focused on comparative politics, restructuring, and colonization in metropolitan regions. Richard Milgrom teaches community design and urban planning processes in the Department of City Planning at the University of Manitoba. Based on his experiences as an architect and social justice activist, his courses encourage direct involvement with communities. His research focuses on participatory design in culturally diverse environments. Christian Schmidteaches urban sociology in the Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich and is senior researcher at ETH Studio Basel, Switzerland. He is the author of Stadt,Raum und Gesellschaft:Henri Lefebvre und die Produktion des Raumes, a leading work on Henri Lefebvre, as well as numerous publications on urban development, social movements, regulation theory, and urban social theory. SPACE, DIFFERENCE, EVERYDAY LIFE Reading Henri Lefebvre Edited by Kanishka Goonewardena Stefan Kipfer Richard Milgrom Christian Schmid First published 2008 by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN !"#$%&'#(#)*%+,-.#$"&'%#*%("&%!/0.)1%2%31/*4#$%&56#-1/107 899:; <!)%+,14"/$& 0),1 )=*%4)+0%)>%("#$%)1%/*0%)>%!/0.)1%2%31/*4#$%)1%?),(.&'@&A$ 4)..&4(#)*%)>%("),$/*'$%)>%&B))C$%+.&/$&%@)%()%===;&B))C$()1&;(/*'>;4);,C;D Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2008 Taylor & Francis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Lefebvre, Henri, 1901–1991. Space, difference, everyday life : reading Henri Lefebvre/edited by Kanishka Goonewardena . [et al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Lefebvre, Henri, 1901–1991. 2. Social sciences—Philosophy. 3. Space and time. 4. Cities and towns. I. Goonewardena, Kanishka. II. Title. H61.15.L44 2008 307.7601—dc22 2007027484 EFBG 0-203-93321-4%H/$(&1 &5-))C EFBG ISBN10: 0–415–95459–2 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–415–95460–6 (pbk) ISBN10: 0–203–93321–4 (ebk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–95459–4 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–95460–0 (pbk) ISBN13: 978–0–203–93321–3 (ebk) CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES vii NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS ix PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii 1 On the production of Henri Lefebvre 1 Stefan Kipfer,Kanishka Goonewardena,Christian Schmid,and Richard Milgrom PART I: DIALECTICS OF SPACE AND TIME 25 2 Henri Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space: towards a three-dimensional dialectic 27 Christian Schmid 3 Reading The Urban Revolution: space and representation 46 Walter Prigge 4 Space as concrete abstraction: Hegel, Marx, and modern urbanism in Henri Lefebvre 62 Lukasz Stanek 5 Mondialisation before globalization: Lefebvre and Axelos 80 Stuart Elden 6 Lefebvre without Heidegger: “Left-Heideggerianism” qua contradictio in adiecto 94 Geoffrey Waite PART II: RHYTHMS OF URBANIZATION AND EVERYDAY LIFE 115 vi contents 7 Marxism and everyday life: on Henri Lefebvre, Guy Debord, and some others 117 Kanishka Goonewardena 8 Henri Lefebvre and urban everyday life: in search of the possible 134 Klaus Ronneberger 9 Rhythms, streets, cities 147 Kurt Meyer 10 Lessons in Surrealism: relationality, event, encounter 161 Sara Nadal-Melsió 11 Lefebvre and Debord: a Faustian fusion 176 Andy Merrifield PART III: DIFFERENCE, HEGEMONY, AND THE RIGHT TO THE CITY 191 12 How Lefebvre urbanized Gramsci: hegemony, everyday life, and difference 193 Stefan Kipfer 13 Totality, hegemony, difference: Henri Lefebvre and Raymond Williams 212 Andrew Shmuely 14 Henri Lefebvre’s critique of state productivism 231 Neil Brenner 15 Right to the city: politics of citizenship 250 Liette Gilbert and Mustafa Dikeç 16 Lucien Kroll: design, difference, everyday life 264 Richard Milgrom PART IV: CONCLUSION 283 17 Globalizing Lefebvre? 285 Stefan Kipfer,Christian Schmid,Kanishka Goonewardena,and Richard Milgrom INDEX 306 LIST OF FIGURES 16.1 Lefebvre’s conceptual triad 270 16.2 Student residence, L’Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels 273 16.3 Kroll’s work contrasted with other campus architecture of the period 274 CONTRIBUTORS Neil Brenner is Professor of Sociology and Metropolitan Studies at New York University.His research on state theory,space, scale, and neoliberal urban governance has appeared in New State Spaces: Urban Governance and the Rescaling of Statehood (2004), State/Space:A Reader (2003), and Spaces of Neoliberalism: Urban Restructuring in Western Europe and North America (2002). Mustafa Dikeç is Lecturer in Human Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London. His research focuses on space, politics and democracy, with particular emphasis on French urban policy,exile, and asylum-seekers in Paris. He is the author of Badlands of the Republic (2007). Stuart Eldenis Professor of Political Geography at Durham University and the author of Speaking Against Number:Heidegger,Language and the Politics of Calculation(2005),Understanding Henri Lefebvre:Theory and the Possible(2006), Mapping the Present:Heidegger,Foucault and the Project of a Spatial History (2001) as well as co-editor of Henri Lefebvre,Key Writings (2003). He is currently working on a history of the concept of territory. Liette Gilbert is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies,York University,Toronto. Her research focuses on identity,citizenship, migration, urban movements, and regional planning in Montreal,Toronto and Southern California. She is working on a book on Ontario’s “Green Belt.” Kanishka Goonewardena was trained as an architect in Sri Lanka and now teaches urban design and critical theory at the University of Toronto. He is working on two books, The Future of Planning at the “End of History”and The Urban Sensorium:Space,Ideology and the Aestheticization of Politics, exploring cities, imperialism, and ideology. Stefan Kipfer teaches urbanization, urban politics, and planning in the Faculty of Environmental Studies,York University,Toronto. Informed by urban social theory, especially Henri Lefebvre, Frantz Fanon, and Antonio Gramsci, his research is focused on comparative politics, restructuring and colonization in metropolitan regions. x contributors Andy Merrifield is a writer on Marxism and urbanism now living in France. His most recent books includeGuy Debord(2006),Henri Lefebvre:A Critical Introduction(2006), Metromarxism:A Marxist Tale of the City (2002), and Dialectical Urbanism:Social Struggles in the Capitalist City (2002). Kurt Meyer is a philosopher and published one of the earliest and most influential monographs on Henri Lefebvre in German, Henri Lefebvre, ein romantischer Revolutionär (1973). He has just published a new book on Lefebvre:Von der Stadt zur urbanen Gesellschaft – Jacob Burckhardt und Henri Lefebvre(2007). Richard Milgrom teaches community design and urban planning processes in the Department of City Planning at the University of Manitoba. Based on his experiences as an architect and social justice activist, his courses encourage direct involvement with communities. His research focuses on participatory design in culturally diverse environments.
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