Metromarxism: A Marxist Tale of the City

225 Pages·136.908 MB·English

by  Andy Merrifield

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A Marxist Tale of the City
Andy Merrifield
ROUTLEDGE
New York aiid London
Published in 2002 by
Routledge
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New York, NY 10001
www.routledge.com
Published in Great Britain by
Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane
London EC4P 4EE
www.routledge.co.uk
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor and Francis Group.
Copyright €> 2002 Routledge
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be printed or utilized in any form or by
any elecronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
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without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Pubucation Data
Merrifield, Andy.
Metromarxism / by Andy Merrifield.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-415-93348-X (hb) — ISBN 0-415-93349-8 (pb)
1. Sociology, Urban. 2. Socialism. I. Title.
HT119.M377 2002
307.76—dc21 2002024668
For Coriiiiia

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1
КАНЬ MARX
Commodities and Cities, with Sober Senses 13
г
FREDERICK ENGELS
Backstreet Boy in Manchester 31
ö
WALTER BENJAMIN
The City of Profane Illumination 49
4
HENRI LEFEBVRE
The Urban Revolution 71
5
GUY DEBORD
The City of Marx and Coca-Cola 93
6
MANUEL CASTELLS
The City of Althusser and Social Movements 113
7
DAVID HARVEY
The Geopolitics of Urbanization 133
8
MARSHALL BERMAN
A Marxist Urban Romance 157
Afterword 175
Notes 185
Index 207
.h
I
"You cannot say that I hold the present time in too much
esteem; and if I do not always despair of it, it's only on
account of its own desperate situation which fills me
with hope" --Karl Marx to Arnold Ruge, May 1843
«But for heaven's sake, let us not talk of quarts or
gallons—let us take the story straight before us; it is so
nice and intricate a one, it will scarce bear the transposi­
tion of a single tittle; and some how or other, you have
got me thrust into the jciddle of itn --Laurence Sterne, The
Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman