Henri Lefebvre Quotes on Knowledge
Henri Lefebvre was a French Marxist philosopher and sociologist whose work shaped the critical theory of everyday life and the philosophy of urban space. This page collects quotes attributed to Henri Lefebvre on the topic of knowledge, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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Attributed to Henri Lefebvre:
“Everyday life is the supreme court where wisdom, knowledge and power are brought to judgment.”
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“Henri Lefebvre (1970/2003) The Urban Revolution p. 110.”
Socialism, when it attempts to predict or imagine the future (which Marx refused to do, since he conceived of a path, not a model), provides us merely with an improved form of labor (salaries and material conditions on the job). -
“Variant: Marx... conceived of a path, not a model. As cited in: "Anti-Capitalist Meet Up: Henri Lefebvre looks out into space" at dailykos.com, 2012.04.29”
Socialism, when it attempts to predict or imagine the future (which Marx refused to do, since he conceived of a path, not a model), provides us merely with an improved form of labor (salaries and material conditions on the job). -
“Henri Lefebvre (1974) The Production of Space . Translated to English in 1991 by Donald Nicholson-Smith; As cited in: "Henri Lefebvre on Governance and Space" on thepolisblog.org 2012.10”
Just as economic pressure from the base … is able to modify the production of surplus value, so pressure grounded in spatial practice is alone capable of modifying the apportionment of that surplus value — i.e. the distribution of the portion of social surplus production allotted to society's collective 'interests', to so-called social services. Such grass-roots pressure, if it is to be effective -
“Henri Lefebvre (1974) The Production of Space . Translated to English in 1991 by Donald Nicholson-Smith; cited in: "Henri Lefebvre on Governance and Space" on thepolisblog.org 2012.10”
Pressure from below must therefore also confront the state in its role as organiser of space, as the power that controls urbanization, the construction of buildings and spatial planning in general. The state defends class interests while simultaneously setting itself above society as a whole, and its ability to intervene in space can and must be turned back against it, by grass-roots opposition, i