Table Of ContentSPACE, DIFFERENCE, EVERYDAY LIFE
Space,Difference,Everyday Lifepresents 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
contemporaryquestions concerning space,time,difference,urbanization,state,
colonizaton,and radical politics.
Kanishka Goonewardenawas 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 Futureof Planning atthe “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 Kipferteaches urbanization,urban politics,and planning in the Faculty of
Environmental Studies,York University,Toronto.Informed by urban social theory,
especiallyHenriLefebvre,Frantz Fanon,and Antonio Gramsci,his research is focused
on comparative politics,restructuring,and colonization in metropolitan regions.
Richard Milgromteaches 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,aleading work on
HenriLefebvre,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
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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
ISBN0-203-93321-4 Mastere-bookISBN
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
LISTOFFIGURES vii
NOTESONCONTRIBUTORS ix
PREFACEANDACKNOWLEDGMENTS 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
athree-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 Mondialisationbefore globalization: Lefebvre and Axelos 80
StuartElden
6 Lefebvre without Heidegger: “Left-Heideggerianism”
quacontradictio in adiecto 94
Geoffrey Waite
PART II: RHYTHMS OF URBANIZATION AND EVERYDAYLIFE 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
AndyMerrifield
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).
MustafaDikeç 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 Gilbertis 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 Goonewardenawas trained as an architect in Sri Lanka and now teaches
urban design and critical theory at the University of Toronto.He is working on
twobooks,The Futureof Planning atthe “End of History”and The Urban Sensorium:Space,Ideology
and the Aestheticization of Politics,exploring cities,imperialism,and ideology.
Stefan Kipferteaches 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.
