absolute space

body

capitalism

citadins

city

difference

double determination

embodiment

eroticism

leading object

literature

lived space

marxism

Marxist humanism

production of space

rhythm

rhythmanalysis

right to the city

space

state mode of production

theory of moments

time and space

urban

urban society

nationality

French

occupation / innovator as

philosopher

sociologist

marxist

innovator in the field of

alienation

dialectics

everyday life

modernity

mystification

philosophy

rurality

social space

sociology

the city

urban studies

urbanity

university teacher

religion

atheism

politician

French Resistance fighter

geographer

literary critic

Critique of Everyday Life

defines space as such whereas social space is characterized by being lived and meaningful.

distinguishes between more abstract kinds of space (absolute space) and lived and meaningful spaces (social space). Social space is clearly very close to the definition of place.

is made visible through particular activities (e.g., childbirth, religious healing, colonization, dissection). As such, we can speak beyond the body to the maternal body, the body of faith, the colonized body, the object of medicine.

Ultimately concerned with the production of space, Henri Lefebvre's discussion of the fetishization of products is crucial for understanding the body as a product of history. Working from Marx, he argues that 'products and the circuits they establish (in space) are fetishized and so become more 'real' than reality itself-that is, than productive activity itself. . . . Merely to note the existence of things . . . is to ignore what things at once embody and dissimulate, namely social relations and the forms of those relations' (1991, 81). Although he goes on to use this basic premise to examine the production of space, it can also be used to historicize the body. Rather than starting with the premise that the body is 'real,' historians can ask what activities (e.g., childbirth, religious healing, colonization, dissection) produced specific bodies (e.g., the maternal body, the body of faith, the colonized body, the object of medicine). Furthermore, it is necessary to understand productive activities and the bodies they give rise to as simultaneously material and discursive.

For Lefebvre, capitalism is the solvent of unified social life, which explains why he began his critique of capitalism with Marx: Marxian thought alone is not . . . '

is closer to a work of art than to a simple material product.

Lefebvre defines the city as 'a present and immediate reality, a practico-material and architectural fact' (Lefebvre 1968/1996: 103)'closer to a work of art than to a simple material product' (101). 'an oeuvre [cannot] exist without things, without something to shape, without practico-material reality, without a site, wihtout a 'nature', a countryside, an environment . . . Urban life, urban society, in a word, the urban, cannot go without a practico-material base, a morphology' (103)

is a social production that effects a decolonization of homogenized space.

is the productive activity or the social relations through which bodies are made... an examination of embodiment is the examination of this material and discursive making.

Following Lefebvre, embodiment is the productive activity, the social relations, through which bodies are made... an examination of embodiment is the examination of this material and discursive making.

is a troublesome multitude of different spaces (i.e. Enclosed, described, projected, dreamt of, speculated about).

. For Lefebvre, literature offers a troublesome multitude of different spaces:'The problem is that any search for space in literary texts will find it everywhereand in every guise: enclosed, described, projected, dreamt of, speculated about'(PS, p. 15). By focusing on subgenres as historically sedimented points ofintersection between spatial scales and literary form, this study hopes todevelop an approach to literary spaces that avoids finding them 'everywhereand in every guise.,,

is a way of life and a fight for life. Seen not as a scientific theory but as a political theory.

For Lefebvre, Marxism was no less than a way of life and a fight for life.. . . ' for Lefebvre Marxism is not a science but a political theory of

is that which unites elements which mark time and distinguish moments in it.

rhythm unites elements which 'mark time and distinguish moments in it' (2004: 9). Whilst he outlines a number of forms rhythm can take, of particular note are secret or internal physiological rhythms and external or 'dominating' . . .

is the textures of everyday life. It consist of repetition with modification, like a wave with the ever-present and necessary involvement of counter movements, overlays, and contextual factors such as the shore, the tides, and the weather.

for Lefebvre rhythm pertains to 'the relation of the Same to the Other.'2 Rhythm is a contextual matter, involving variation and memory. He offers the case of the movement of the waves on the sea, which constitutes a rhythm rather than a mere repetition because it involves counter movements and complex overlays of movement, with their pattern relying on a range of co ntextual factors such as the shape and materials of the shore, the tides, and weather conditions. The body too operates rhythmically, its movement depending on the body's size, shape, strength, condition, and context. Rhythm is repetition with modification. Every stroke need not be exactly the same. For Lefebvre, notions of sameness are subordinated to difference.

is an approach to analysing the rhythms of everyday life.

is as intrinsic to the human condition as is labor (a-la marx) or simply breathing. Space and the control of it can be taken away, but the right to it is always present.

Space is the creative product of the everyday people whose lives are mirrored in it. Just because one cannot overtly see the place-shaping activities in space does not mean that they are not there. For Lefebvre, the right to the city is as intrinsic to the human condition as is labor (a-la Marx) or simply breathing. Space and the control of it can be taken away, but the right to it is always present.

is a product of everyday life. It is the creative product of the people whose lives are part of it. Bricks and mortar are incidental to the social activities that produce space.

For Lefebvre, space is a product of everyday life. It is the creative product of the people whose lives are part of it. Bricks and mortar are incidental to the social activities that produce space. Lefebvre argued that capitalism expropriates space by

is a social product made up of three elements: Perceived space (i.e. Spatial practice or the way in which space is used)... representations of space, or 'conceptualized space'.

Put differently, for Lefebvre, space is a social product made up of three elements: perceived space, that is, spatial practice or the way in which space is used... representations of space, or 'conceptualized space' (Lefebvre 1991: 38)

is broadly ideological because it reproduces existing social relations.

More successfully than anyone of whom I am aware, Lefebvre has specified the operations of space as ideology and built the foundation for cultural critiques of spatial design as a tool of social control. For Lefebvre, space is broadly ideological because it reproduces existing social relations.

is continuously produced as a multiplicity of lived social relations at the same time that it is perceived as a concrete 'already finished' product and conceived in terms of a measurable geometric order.

is expropriated by capitalism in that capitalism repackages it as an abstract commodity which can be bundled much like manufactured commodities such as a bunch of vacuum cleaners, pencils, or sweaters.

Lefebvre argued that capitalism expropriates space by repackaging it as an abstract commodity that can be bundled much like manufactured commodities such as a bunch of vacuum cleaners, pencils, or sweaters.

is first of all, occupied. The continuous social and physical activity that lefebvre calls the assembly of space presupposes occupation. The question is then, what options and opportunities exist for occupying space'.

In other words, for Lefebvre, space is, first of all, occupied. The continuous social and physical activity that Lefebvre calls the assembly of space presupposes occupation. The question is then, What options and opportunities exist for occupying space'

is not a neutral container. Rather, it is a practice and is lived directly before it is conceptualized. It is revealed through the deciphering of its space.

is the embodiment of social relations, and of ideology' (Forty 2000: 271 ). Lefebvre's analysis of space, as Markus (1993: 12) suggests, is much broader than previous theories, considering space, place and locale, and connecting 'abstract scientific and social space and concrete, material space: Lefebvre (1991: 94) challenges the idea that it is only architects or builders who 'produce' space, or that space is 'a form or container of a virtually neutral kind, designed simply to receive whatever is poured into it: Instead, he argues that the spatial practice of a society 'is lived directly before it is conceptualized' (Lefebvre 1991: 34), and is 'revealed through the deciphering of its space' (Lefebvre 1991: 38). Lefebvre's holistic writing on the concept of space has been used to decipher not only the space of architectural design but also social relations in the way space is lived, shaped and experienced across the everyday rituals of suburbs and cities.

is not just a built-environment but a force of production and an object of consumption. It is also an object of political struggle, because space is an instrument of control by the state.

As Katznelson once again synthesises, for Lefebvre: Space is not just a built-environment but a force of production and an object of consumption. It is also an object of political struggle, because space is an instrument of control by the state.

Henri Lefebvre

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