Henri Lefebvre

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Zieleniec
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Social Production ◽  
Henri Lefebvre ◽  
Production Of Space ◽  
The Social ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Right ◽  
The University ◽  
The City

Henri Lefebvre is now established as one of the most important social theorists of the 20th century. Over a long life (b. 1901–d. 1991) he wrote and published prodigiously more than sixty books and several hundred articles on a range of issues and themes. His legacy and lasting impact not only includes being the most influential and seminal theorist on the reprioritization of space in social and critical analysis but also recognition for his contribution to the analysis of everyday life, modernity, the Right to the City, and the urban. He continues to influence and inspire research across a number of disciplines and fields; these include rural and regional studies, sociology, geography, politics, philosophy, and urban studies. Lefebvre’s commitment Marxism; his nondogmatic and humanist approach to the definition, discussion, extension, and application of key concepts; and his integration of those concepts into his various analyses of the rural and the city, of the state, of space and politics, and of modernity and everyday life led him to a conflicted relationship and at times marginalization within the structuralist-influenced French Academy and the Communist Party of France in which he was a member for thirty years. His anti-Stalinist stance and nonconformist opposition to the structural determinism prevalent within the party led to his expulsion, but throughout the 1960s, as professor of sociology at the University of Strasbourg and latterly at the new university at Nanterre, he became one of the most respected teachers and intellectuals inspiring and influencing the May 1968 student revolt. Lefebvre’s work after that, still influenced and committed to Marxist dialectics and critique, increasingly focused on the urban, the social production of space, everyday life, modernity, and the survival of capitalism. Of these his introduction of the concept of the right to the city and the social production of space have been immensely influential for a range of urban scholars and theorists and his work as a whole is being increasingly adopted, adapted, and extended by a variety of researchers of the city in a range of disciplines. The works selected below reflect Lefebvre’s long career and extensive corpus of work. However, only those books and articles that have been translated into English are included here. They represent his exegesis of Marxism and its application to a range of themes that were applied or are important for urban analysis. The secondary literature cited is organized thematically and while not comprehensive provides an overview of the expanding literature on, about, and applying Lefebvrian analysis.

scholarly journals Towards a spatialized utopia: romanticism and everyday life in the Marxism of Henri Lefebvre

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
César Simoni Santos
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Henri Lefebvre ◽  
Social Imagination ◽  
Critical Tradition ◽  
Revolutionary Romanticism ◽  
Practical Program ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City ◽  
Spatial Element

The presence of the spatial element in the reflections of Henri Lefebvre does not merely result from work involving the translation and adaptation of critical thinking developed up until his time. The realization that not even the highest expression of the critical tradition had sufficiently noticed this crucial dimension of life was one of the connecting points between theoretical advance, represented by the spatial orientation of critique, and the effort to renew the utopian horizon. A very distinct assimilation of the early work of Marx and the proximity to revolutionary romanticism, particularly of Nietzschean extraction, rendered a decisive impact on Lefebvrian conception. Practice, body, pleasure and instincts, recovering their place in the critical social imagination, went on to become the basis for the re-foundation of a theoretical-practical program that involved the formulation of the notion of the right to the city. The perspective of appropriation thus replaced the vague emancipatory statements of the subject's philosophies.

scholarly journals Lefebvre’s thought in contemporary urban sociology

Sociologija ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-491
Author(s):  
Miloje Grbin
Keyword(s):  
Urban Sociology ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Henri Lefebvre ◽  
Production Of Space ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
The Right ◽  
Space Production ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

This paper presents the impact of Henri Lefebvre?s thought in contemporary urban sociology. In the first chapter, the reader can find brief descriptions of two most relevant Lefebvre?s concepts linked to his comprehension of space: production of space, the right to the city and a couple of firmly related concepts. The second chapter presents several examples of their recent interpretations by the authors from different theoretical backgrounds. Simultaneously, it evaluates the relevance of Lefebvre?s theoretical assumptions in contemporary social context, as well as their theoretical and methodological relevance for further research and development of urban sociology. Conclusion emphasizes that Lefebvre?s ideas have a deep and long term influence in urban sociology.

Placemaking and the right to the city of urban poor: a case studyin Sanandaj, Iran

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 508-528
Author(s):  
Kayoumars Irandoost ◽  
Milad Doostvandi ◽  
Todd Litman ◽  
Mohammad Azami
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Social Production ◽  
Production Of Space ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

Purpose This paper aims to present a critical analysis of placemaking by the urban poor based on the Right to the City, Henri Lefebvre’s influential theory regarding the production of space and placemaking. Design/methodology/approach This study reflects Lefebvre’s production of space and the right to the city theories and containing three main pillars including holism, the urban and praxis, and the use of spatial dialectics. Also, for collecting information in this research, along with scrutiny of documents and books, residents of the poor settlements of Sanandaj have also been interviewed. Findings In Sanandaj, urban poor who lack formal housing reclaim the Right to City by creating informal settlements. Such settlements, such as Shohada, Baharmast and Tagh Taghan, cover 23% of the city’s area but house 69% of the urban population. Originality/value This research seeks to understand placemaking in urban slums by low-income inhabitants using Henry Lefebvre’s critical theory of social production of space and the Right to the City. This case study examines the city of Sanandaj, Iran, where most residents are poor and live in cooperative informal settlements. It illustrates how the urban poor, as marginalized inhabitants, overcome the constraints of conventional planning and property ownership to creatively and cooperatively develop communities that reflect their needs. This indicates a schism between formal and informal sectors.

scholarly journals ANÁLISE DO ESPAÇO PÚBLICO URBANO: o caso do Parque Mangal das Garças

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (16) ◽  
pp. 11068
Author(s):  
Fernanda da Silva de Andrade Moreira ◽  
Karen de Nazareth Santos Nogueira
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Social Production ◽  
Urban Public Space ◽  
Physical Sense ◽  
Theoretical Support ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

ANALYSIS OF URBAN PUBLIC SPACE: the case of Mangal das Garças ParkANÁLISIS DEL ESPACIO PÚBLICO URBANO: el caso del Parque Mangal das GarçasOs espaços públicos urbanos têm sido objeto de estudos frequentes, pois, são nesses espaços que ocorre a produção social da cidade. Entendem-se como espaços públicos, em seu sentido físico, a praça, a rua, os parques entre outros. O presente estudo tem como objetivo central analisar o espaço do Parque Mangal das Garças, investigando os conceitos de espaços públicos e suas novas formas de exteriorização, no intuito de perceber de que maneira a população de Belém o percebe como espaço público no seu sentido mais amplo: o de instrumento para a promoção do direito à cidade. A metodologia utilizada foi a de entrevista orientada com 20 transeuntes no dia 18 de setembro de 2017 aplicada sob o suporte teórico de estudiosos da área.Palavras-chave: Urbanização; Espaços Públicos; Produção Social; Acessibilidade.ABSTRACTThe urban public spaces have been the object of frequent study, since it is in these spaces that the social production of the city occurs. They are understood as public spaces, in their physical sense, the square, the street, the parks among others. This study aims to analyze the space of Mangal das Garças Park, investigating the concepts of public spaces, and their new forms of exteriorization, in order to understand how the population of Belém perceives it as a public space in its broadest sense the instrument for the promotion of the right to the city. The methodology used was an interview with 20 passers-by on September 18, 2017 applied to the theoretical support of scholars in the area.Keywords: Urbanization; Public Spaces; Social Production; Accessibility.RESUMENLos espacios públicos urbanos han sido objeto de estudio frecuente, pues, son en esos espacios que ocurre la producción social de la ciudad. Se entiende como espacios públicos, en su sentido físico, la plaza, la calle, los parques entre otros. Este estudio tiene como objetivo central analizar el espacio del Parque Mangal das Garças, investigando los conceptos de espacios públicos, y sus nuevas formas de exteriorización, con el fin de percibir de qué manera la población de Belén lo percibe como espacio público en su sentido más amplio : el de instrumento para la promoción del derecho a la ciudad. La metodología utilizada fue la de entrevista orientada con 20 transeúntes el día 18 de septiembre de 2017 aplicada al soporte teórico de estudiosos del área.Palabras clave: Urbanización; Espacios Públicos; Producción Social; Accesibilidad.

scholarly journals The city as a common good

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (72) ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Marques Paes da Cunha ◽  
Luciana Márcia Gonçalves
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Production Mode ◽  
The Social ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Right ◽  
Municipal Autonomy ◽  
The City

The contemporary urbanization process in Brazil is directly related to the dynamics of the capitalist production mode. In this production mode the urban land, as well as habitation, become commodities – individual or collective consumer goods. With the increase in municipal autonomy back in the 1990s, along with the approval of the Statue of Cities in 2001, new tools for organization of urban territory and production of habitations were created. This work makes a brief analysis of the right to city’s trajectory, since the creation of such concept by Henri Lefebvre in the 1960s, until the concept’s appropriation by Brazilian legislation. Through bibliographical review, it relates the social role of property as means to grant the right to the city.

scholarly journals Lebanon Cities’ Public Spaces

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Nazzal ◽  
Samer Chinder
Keyword(s):  
Green Space ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
World Health ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Land Prices ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

In Lebanon, the social connections are undeniable and crucial. However, meeting places remain private such as houses, restaurants, malls, and beach resorts. This is mainly due to the shortage of public spaces in Lebanon resulting from lack of planning, regulations and awareness around the right to the city and the importance of public spaces. In main cities where land prices are so expensive, common practice has prioritized the use of land in real estate development, thus trumping other uses such as public and communal spaces.In the late 1990s, Lebanon saw the emergence of malls, which have arguably acted as alternatives to public spaces. Malls, with their wealth of food courts, restaurants, cinemas, and play areas, have become the new downtown for a portion of the Lebanese population. They are also considered safe, which is another important factor.In 2015, the percentage of green spaces in Lebanon has decreased to less than 13%. While the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a minimum of 9m2 of green space per capita (UN-HABITAT, 2016), Beirut has only 0.8m2.

scholarly journals The Right to the City and to the University: Forging Solidarity Beyond the Town/Gown Divide

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Ferman ◽  
Miriam Greenberg ◽  
Thao Lee ◽  
Steven C. McKay
Keyword(s):  
Right To The City ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Temple University ◽  
Anchor Institutions ◽  
The Right ◽  
Neoliberal Restructuring ◽  
The University ◽  
The City ◽  
The Town

Over the last fifty years, institutions of higher education have served as anchor institutions in cities’ broader neoliberal efforts to generate new economic sectors, attract the creative class, and build amenities that stimulate market-oriented redevelopment. These activities, combined with universities’ own neoliberal restructuring, including diminishing housing support for students and staff, have contributed to gentrification and displacement in neighborhoods surrounding universities, creating the context for interrelated struggles for the right to the city and the right to the university. Using Temple University in Philadelphia, and University of California Santa Cruz as case studies we examine how students, faculty, and other university actors are joining with organizations and movements in surrounding communities to resist restructuring and displacement. In doing so, these emerging coalitions are transcending the more divisive town/gown narrative, forging new solidarities that are reimagining more just and equitable futures for both the city and the university.

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