Understanding Henri Lefebvre

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by Stuart Elden

The Athlone Press

Due/Published April 2004, 240 pages, paper

ISBN 0826470033

Henri Lefebvre has been celebrated as one of the most influential social theorists of the twentieth century. Understanding Henri Lefebvre places Lefebvre in his historical and intellectual context and analyzes the extraordinary range of his work, across politics, philosophy, history, literature and culture.

Particular emphasis is given to Lefebvre's trilogy of inspirational thinkers -- Hegel, Marx and Nietzsche; his links to contemporaries such as Heidegger, Axelos and the Situationalists; and his critiques of existentialism and structuralism. Analysis of his writings on cities are balanced with those on rural communities, the production of space connected to ideas of time and history, and everyday life linked to the festival and cultural revolution.