The Metropolitan Studies Colloquium Series Continues: Wednesday, April 25 @ IPK - THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
mjh224
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.
All events held at 20 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003
all are free and open to the public.
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