Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life

Description

Rhythmanalysis displays all the characteristics which made Lefebvre one of the most important Marxist thinkers of the twentieth century. In the analysis of rhythms -- both biological and social -- Lefebvre shows the interrelation of space and time in the understanding of everyday life.With dazzling skills, Lefebvre moves between discussions of music, the commodity, measurement, the media and the city. In doing so he shows how a non-linear conception of time and history balanced his famous rethinking of the question of space. This volume also includes his earlier essays on "The Rhythmanalysis Project" and "Attempt at the Rhythmanalysis of Mediterranean Towns."

Stuart Elden is a Professor of Political Geography at Durham University. Henri Lefebvre (1901-91) was a French Marxist sociologist, intellectual and philosopher. He held a range of academic posts both in France and America and wrote almost 70 books. His work influenced the development of philosophy, sociology, geography, political science and literary criticism. Gerald Moore is a graduate student at Downing College, Cambridge, working on contemporary French philosophy.

...the most thorough account of Lefebvre's work on time yet available to an English-speaking audience and, as such, it really demands to be read. ..Lefebvre's work encourages rhythmanalysis as a sensibility, as close to the poetic as the scientific...a welcome addition to Lefebvre's work available in English. As the most comprehensive translation of his studies of time and rhythm so far, it will be of very wide interest...Whoever we are, Rhythmanalysis will enrich our theoretical and empirical investigations. -- Dave Horton ...a remarkable achievement on the part of Stuart Elden. -- Neil Maycroft * Capital and Class * ...it represents the concise culmination of his though in a synthesis neatly summarized in the English subtitle of this book: space, time and everyday life...Elden has performed a fine service to Lefebvre scholarship here. His book will help to orient an English-speaking audience to the sophisticated philosophical background of one of the most original calls to revolutionary thought and action of the twentieth century.' -- Andrew Aitken * Radical Philosophy *