Metropolitan Studies Colloquium Series Continues: Monday, April 9, 5:00pm @ IPK - HEGEMONY AND RESISTANCE
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M. Hilaire
Apr 4, 2012, 9:52:29 PM4/4/12
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Connecting Concrete and Abstract: Conversations on Urban Revolution Inspired by Henri Lefebvre
http://concreteandabstract.com
The last twelve months have witnessed political upheaval on a global scale. Arab Spring. European Summer. American Fall. Cities are now at the center of popular struggles, raising the prospect of worldwide urban revolution.
The uncertainty of the immediate future suggests the need for new approaches to research but also a fresh look at radical theory that emerged when urban revolution last seemed possible. Near the top of the list, surely, is the work of French social theorist Henri Lefebvre. After all, the closest precedent to the current conjuncture is the global revolution of 1968, which led Lefebvre to reinvent his social theory—with urbanization now at its center. Henceforth, the politics of space defined his ongoing investigation of the abstractions of capital and the state and the concrete everyday struggles that oppose them.
In the past two decades a wave of radical scholarship has reassessed Lefebvre’s thought and pushed it in new directions. But the reemergence of sustained mass struggle in the streets of cities across the world calls to the foreground aspects of Lefebvre’s work that were underappreciated in the decades of neoliberal ascendance, when the majority of his work was translated into English.
At the same time, in many respects contemporary politics are unrecognizable from the perspective of 1968. Moreover, students and established scholars alike are often left with the feeling that Lefebvre’s writing is full of insights but is too unwieldy or unsystematic to use as a guide for further research. What can we appropriate from Lefebvre to make sense of current events?
Throughout spring 2012 the Institute for Public Knowledge and the Program in Metropolitan Studies at NYU are staging conversations between leading scholars of the state, space, and everyday life. Despite the transformations of the past 40 years, despite the difficulty of Lefebvre’s thought, these scholars demonstrate the renewed relevance of an analysis of urban revolution.
The conversations will be wide-ranging and interdisciplinary, like Lefebvre’s oeuvre itself. They will be participatory and open-ended, and particularly oriented toward scholars and activists with only a passing familiarity with Lefebvre’s work but a passion for understanding and engaging in radical change.
Colloquium schedule
All events held at 20 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003
all are free and open to the public.
1. Friday, February 10, 2:00pm, IPK (5th fl)
THE STATE AND EVERYDAY LIFE
Stanley Aronowitz, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Urban Education, City University of New York Graduate Center
Neil Brenner, Professor of Urban Theory, Harvard Graduate School of Design
2. Tuesday, March 6, 5:00pm, SCA (4th fl)
HISTORICIZING SPACE
Manu Goswami, Associate Professor of History, NYU
Kristin Ross, Professor of Comparative Literature, NYU
3. Monday, April 9, 5:00pm, IPK (5th fl)
HEGEMONY AND RESISTANCE
Stefan Kipfer, Professor of Environmental Studies, York University
René Poitevin, Assistant Professor, Gallatin School, NYU
4. Wednesday, April 25, 5:00pm, IPK (5th fl)
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Łukasz Stanek, A.W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery
Alejandro Velasco, Assistant Professor, Gallatin School, NYU
http://concreteandabstract.com
The last twelve months have witnessed political upheaval on a global scale. Arab Spring. European Summer. American Fall. Cities are now at the center of popular struggles, raising the prospect of worldwide urban revolution.
The uncertainty of the immediate future suggests the need for new approaches to research but also a fresh look at radical theory that emerged when urban revolution last seemed possible. Near the top of the list, surely, is the work of French social theorist Henri Lefebvre. After all, the closest precedent to the current conjuncture is the global revolution of 1968, which led Lefebvre to reinvent his social theory—with urbanization now at its center. Henceforth, the politics of space defined his ongoing investigation of the abstractions of capital and the state and the concrete everyday struggles that oppose them.
In the past two decades a wave of radical scholarship has reassessed Lefebvre’s thought and pushed it in new directions. But the reemergence of sustained mass struggle in the streets of cities across the world calls to the foreground aspects of Lefebvre’s work that were underappreciated in the decades of neoliberal ascendance, when the majority of his work was translated into English.
At the same time, in many respects contemporary politics are unrecognizable from the perspective of 1968. Moreover, students and established scholars alike are often left with the feeling that Lefebvre’s writing is full of insights but is too unwieldy or unsystematic to use as a guide for further research. What can we appropriate from Lefebvre to make sense of current events?
Throughout spring 2012 the Institute for Public Knowledge and the Program in Metropolitan Studies at NYU are staging conversations between leading scholars of the state, space, and everyday life. Despite the transformations of the past 40 years, despite the difficulty of Lefebvre’s thought, these scholars demonstrate the renewed relevance of an analysis of urban revolution.
The conversations will be wide-ranging and interdisciplinary, like Lefebvre’s oeuvre itself. They will be participatory and open-ended, and particularly oriented toward scholars and activists with only a passing familiarity with Lefebvre’s work but a passion for understanding and engaging in radical change.
Colloquium schedule
All events held at 20 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003
all are free and open to the public.
1. Friday, February 10, 2:00pm, IPK (5th fl)
THE STATE AND EVERYDAY LIFE
Stanley Aronowitz, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Urban Education, City University of New York Graduate Center
Neil Brenner, Professor of Urban Theory, Harvard Graduate School of Design
2. Tuesday, March 6, 5:00pm, SCA (4th fl)
HISTORICIZING SPACE
Manu Goswami, Associate Professor of History, NYU
Kristin Ross, Professor of Comparative Literature, NYU
3. Monday, April 9, 5:00pm, IPK (5th fl)
HEGEMONY AND RESISTANCE
Stefan Kipfer, Professor of Environmental Studies, York University
René Poitevin, Assistant Professor, Gallatin School, NYU
4. Wednesday, April 25, 5:00pm, IPK (5th fl)
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Łukasz Stanek, A.W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery
Alejandro Velasco, Assistant Professor, Gallatin School, NYU
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