The Works of Henri Lefebvre: Four Lectures
We introduce the work of French Marxist theorist Henri Lefebvre through four monthly lectures presented by cultural studies scholar Iván Zatz-Díaz.
Lecture 1—October 11
Metaphilosophy: This introduction to Lefebvre’s work presents a framework to situate the overarching purpose of his thought as a form of political activism. Metaphilosophy sets an intent to move the act of thinking beyond itself and towards the living world, beyond formal philosophy and sociology and towards the transformative. A brief look at Lefebvre’s work on Modernism, Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche will provide further context.
Lecture 2—November 15
Critique of Everyday Life is Lefebvre’s overarching project from the immediate aftermath of WWII until his death in 1990. Volume 1 (1947) looks at Marx’s concept of alienation as a central explanation of life under capitalism. Volume 2 (1961) aims to set the path for a sociological analysis of late capitalist alienation. A brief account of his analysis of the French events of May-June 1968 will complete the presentation of this initial phase of the Critique.
Lecture 3—December 13
The Production of Space is Lefebvre’s best-known work in English and the reason he is often viewed reductively as an urban studies theorist, especially in the United States. This presentation will approach the book rather as metaphilosophy, highlighting its politically transformative intent. We will also address other Lefebvre writings on cities as an integral part of his look at everyday life.
Lecture 4—January 10
Critique vol. 3 and Rhythmanalysis: In the last decade of his life, Lefebvre returned to the Critique of Everyday Life in order to confront the imbrication of new technologies with the alienated life of latter-day capitalism. Rhythmanalysis, his final work, incorporates time into the analysis of everyday life, particularly in the form of street rhythms seen from his window or observed in the spaces of Mediterranean cities.
Iván Zatz-Díaz is a retired Professor of Cultural Studies at Pratt Institute in New York City. He has been a resident of three cities: Mexico City (by birth and upbringing), New York City (for much more than half his life), and Madrid (for the past two years and counting).