A collection of previously untranslated writings by Henri Lefebvre on rural sociology, situating his research in relation to wider Marxist work On the Rural is the first English collection to translate Lefebvre's crucial but lesser-known writings on rural sociology and political economy, presenting a wide-ranging approach to understanding the historical and rural sociology of precapitalist social forms, their endurance today, and conditions of dispossession and uneven development. In On the Rural, Stuart Elden and Adam David Morton present Lefebvre's key works on rural questions, including the first half of his book Du rural à l'urbain and supplementary texts, two of which are largely unknown conference presentations published outside France. On the Rural offers methodological orientations for addressing questions of economy, sociology, and geography by deploying insights from spatial political economy to decipher the rural as a terrain and stake of capitalist transformation. By doing so, it reveals the production of the rural as a key site of capitalist development and as a space of struggle. This volume delivers a careful translation--supplemented with extensive notes and a substantive introduction--to cement Lefebvre's central contribution to the political economy of rural sociology and geography.
Henri Lefebvre Book order







- 2022
- 2017
Key Writings
- 352 pages
- 13 hours of reading
Acknowledgements Introduction: Coming to Terms with Lefbvre- Stuart Elden and Elizabeth Lebas Marxism and Philosophy Introduction - Stuart Elden Retrospections (from L 'Existentialisme, 1946) Unity of the Doctrine (from Dialectical Materialism, 1939) Prolegomenas (from Metaphilosophie, 1965) Marxian Thought and Sociology (from The Sociology of Marx, 1966) Beyond Structuralism (from Au-de/a du structuralisme, 1971) Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche (from Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche ou le royaume des ombres, 1975) Triads and Dyads (from La Presence et L'absence, 1980) Twelve Theses on Logic and Dialectic (from Logique formelle, logique dialectique, 3rd edn, 1982) State (from Le Retour de La dialectique, 1986) Becoming and the Historical (from Le Retour de la dialectique, 1986) The Critique of Everyday Life Introduction- Elizabeth Lebas Mystification: Notes for a Critique of Everyday Life (Henri Lefebvre and Norbert Guterman, Avant Poste, 2 [1933]) Elucidations (from Critique de La vie quotidienne II: Fondements d'une sociologie de La quotidiennete, 1961) The Social Text (from Critique de la vie quotidienne II: Fondements d'une sociologie de la quotidiennete, 1961) The End of Modernity? (from Critique de La vie quotidienne Ill: De fa modernite au modernisme (Pour une metaphilosophie du quotidien), 1981) On Vulgarity (from Critique de Ia vie quotidienne IlL De la modernite au modernisme (Pour une mhaphilosophie du quotidien), 1981) Myths in Everyday Life (from Cahiers Internationaux de Sociologie, XXXIII (1962)) The Country and the City Introduction- Eleonore Kofman Perspectives on Rural Sociology (from Cahiers Internationaux de Sociologie, XIV (1953)) Preface to the Study of the Habitat of the 'Pavilion' (from L 'Habitat Pavillonnaire, 1966) Levels and Dimensions (from La Revolution urbaine, 1970) The Other Parises (from Espaces et Societes, 13/14 (1974-5) History, Time and Space Introduction - Stuart Elden The Inventory (from La Somme et le reste, 1959) Time and History (from La Fin de l'histoire, 1970) The Style of the Commune (from La Proclamation de La commune, 1965) The Rhythmanalytical Project (Henri Lefebvre and Catherine Regulier, Communications, 41 (1985)) The Worldwide Experience (from De l'Etat, Vol IV, 1978) Preface to the New Edition (from La Production de l'espace, 3rd edn, 1986) Politics Introduction - Elizabeth Lebas Nation and Culture (from Norbert Guterman and Henri Lefebvre, La Conscience mystifiee, 1936) Between Yourself and You (from Norbert Guterman and Henri Lefebvre, La Conscience mystifiee, 1936) Being a Communist (from La Somme et le reste, 1959) From the Social Pact to the Contract of Citizenship (from Du Contrat de citoyennete, 1990) Some Questions About Asking Questions (from M: Marxisme, Mensuel, Mouvement, 7 (Janvier 1987)) Notes Index
- 2016
Leading French thinker with his key work on philosophical thought In Metaphilosophy, Henri Lefebvre works through the implications of Marx’s revolutionary thought to consider philosophy’s engagement with the world. Lefebvre takes Marx’s notion of the “world becoming philosophical and philosophy becoming worldly” as a leitmotif, examining the relation between Hegelian–Marxist supersession and Nietzschean overcoming. Metaphilosophy is conceived of as a transformation of philosophy, developing it into a programme of radical worldwide change. The book demonstrates Lefebvre’s threefold debt to Hegel, Marx and Nietzsche, but it also brings a number of other figures into the conversation, including Sartre, Heidegger and Axelos. A key text in Lefebvre’s oeuvre, Metaphilosophy is also a milestone in contemporary thinking about philosophy’s relation to the world.
- 2016
Henri Lefebvre was one of the most significant and influential social theorists of the 20th century. His impressive body of work crosses multiple disciplines including sociology, philosophy, economics, politics and cultural studies. In Everyday Life in the Modern World Lefebvre reveals the decisions and events which, day to day, we know very little about and do not actively participate in and yet have a profound effect on our lives. He considers the impact of consumerism, language and mass media on everyday life using a variety of critical approaches including Marxism and Structuralism. The Revelations edition includes an introduction by Philip Wander in which he discusses the context and importance of the book, particularly in the fields of communications, work, science and technology. This is Lefebvre's manifesto for a new cultural revolution of the everyday which is as relevant today as it ever was.
- 2016
Marxist Thought and the City
- 176 pages
- 7 hours of reading
Originally published in French as La pensaee marxiste et la ville. Copyright 1972 by Casterman.
- 2014
Toward an Architecture of Enjoyment
- 248 pages
- 9 hours of reading
Toward an Architecture of Enjoyment, the first publication of Henri Lefebvre's only book devoted to architecture, redefines architecture as a mode of imagination rather than a specialized process or a collection of monuments. Lefebvre calls for an architecture of jouissance--of pleasure or enjoyment--centered on the body and its rhythms and based on the possibilities of the senses.
- 2014
The Missing Pieces
- 88 pages
- 4 hours of reading
This work is a catalog of certain cultural objects that have been lost over time
- 2014
Henri Lefebvre’s magnum opus: a monumental exploration of contemporary society. Henri Lefebvre’s three-volume Critique of Everyday Life is perhaps the richest, most prescient work by one of the twentieth century’s greatest philosophers. Written at the birth of post-war consumerism, the Critique was a philosophical inspiration for the 1968 student revolution in France and is considered to be the founding text of all that we know as cultural studies, as well as a major influence on the fields of contemporary philosophy, geography, sociology, architecture, political theory and urbanism. A work of enormous range and subtlety, Lefebvre takes as his starting-point and guide the “trivial” details of quotidian experience: an experience colonized by the commodity, shadowed by inauthenticity, yet one which remains the only source of resistance and change. This is an enduringly radical text, untimely today only in its intransigence and optimism.
- 2013
Rhythmanalysis
- 128 pages
- 5 hours of reading
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."
- 2012
Introduction to Modernity
- 414 pages
- 15 hours of reading
Exploring the emergence of modernity, the author delves into the sociological and philosophical shifts that shaped contemporary society. Key themes include the transformation of social structures, the impact of technological advancements, and the evolution of individual identity. Through a critical lens, the work examines how these changes influence human behavior and societal norms, offering insights into the complexities of modern life.