Elizabeth Lebas - Böcker

The work of Henri Lefebvre - the only major French intellectual of the post-war period to give extensive consideration to the city and urban life - received considerable attention among both academics and practitioners of the built environment following the publication in English of The Production of Space. This new collection brings together, for the first time in English, Lefebvre's reflections on the city and urban life written over a span of some twenty years. The selection of writings is contextualized by an introduction - itself a significant contribution to the interpretation of Henri Lefebvre's work - which places the material within the context of Lefebvre's intellectual and political life and times and raises pertinent issues as to their relevance for contemporary debates over such questions as the nature of urban reality, the production of space and modernity. Writings on Cities is of particular relevance to architects, planners, geographers, and those interested in the philosophical and political understanding of contemporary life.

Henri Lefebve: Key Writings presents for the first time the full range of Lefebvre's thought. The selection reinforces the centrality of Lefebvre to current debates in social and spatial theory but also sets Lefebvre's work in the context of his broader philosophical and political concerns.The extracts are divided into sections, each separately introduced by the editors: Philosophy and Marxism; Everyday Life and Modernity; The Country and the City; Space, Time and History; Politics. Nearly all the extracts presented here are new translations and most have never appeared in English before.

Henri Lefebvre is now recognised as one of the most influential social theorists of the Twentieth Century. In English, his writings on cities, everyday life, and the production of space have become hugely influential across cultural studies, sociology, geography, and architecture. "Henri Lefebve: Key Writings" presents for the first time the full range of Lefebvre's thought. The selection reinforces the centrality of Lefebvre to current debates in social and spatial theory but also sets Lefebvre's work in the context of his broader philosophical and political concerns. The extracts are divided into sections, each separately introduced by the editors. Nearly all the extracts presented here are new translations and most have never appeared in English before. Stuart Elden is Lecturer in Political Geography at the University of Durham. Elizabeth Lebas is Senior Lecturer in the History of Art and Architecture at Middlesex University. Eleonore Kofman is Professor of Human Geography at Nottingham Trent University.