Understanding Henri Lefebvre

by Stuart Elden

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.

Understanding Henri Lefebvre offers the most wide-ranging and reliable account of this central theorist available.

Genres: Philosophy, Architecture

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

Reviews

[Laco · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion better than "similar" book by Merrifield. Analytically much deeper.

[Maddie Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elden clarifies the writings from Lefebvre a lot. He gives more background info. Great job!

[Jasper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read- I must admit- only the first half of this book, as all I needed was a clear and well-informed interpretation of Lefebvre's method (specifically his exposition of it in Dialectical Materialism) and Critique of Everyday Life, as I am basing a masters thesis on these works. For anyone seeking a general reference work on Lefebvre for similar purposes, this is the one I recommend (over Merrifield's ''critical introduction''. A lovely book, but not very useful for academic work).

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love. Basically started my whole dissertation based on this…