Urban Alienation and Cultural Studies: Henri Lefebvre’s Recalibrated Marxism

Abstract

Following on the heels of a resurgence of interest in the work of self-proclaimed Marxist Henri Lefebvre (1901–1991) that has crossed disciplinary boundaries—passing from geography to the humanities—this chapter asserts the importance of the French scholar’s recalibration of the notion of alienation for an urban cultural studies method. Tracing Lefebvre’s multivalent development of alienation as at once economic, political, social, philosophical (Lefebvre 1991b, 2002, 2005, 2006a)—and, above all else, urban (Lefebvre 2003a)—the case is made for the centrality of the concept in urban cultural studies approaches that fuse urban theory with close readings of both traditional and nontraditional cultural products (literature, film, music, comics, videogames, etc.). This move builds on previous work on Lefebvre—dialoguing also with work by cultural studies pioneer Raymond Williams—in order to trace the French scholar’s development of the original Marxian concept. In particular, it seeks to highlight what is at stake in discussions of a distinctly urban notion of alienation—reconciling that notion with the study of cultural production under capitalism—and ultimately to outline an urban cultural studies method in basic terms.