Understanding Henri Lefebvre

Rating:
Summary: Great contribution to English-language Lefebvre studies
Review: This text provides an excellent English-language review of the broad and complex work of one of the greatest French-language philosophers and social theorists of the 20th century. The few items of Lefebvre's large ouevre that are available in English translation are frequently demanding. Elden's book offers a concise and compeling exegesis of Lefebvre's major intellectual threads and provides a recommended companion to Lefebvre's own writing for English-speaking audiences.

That said, Elden's book would also serve well for readers wishing to familiarise themselves with the major theoretical concerns of Lefebvre without wishing to delve too deeply into the original works.

The book is particulary good in its ability to draw out many of the aspects of Lefebvre's thinking beyond the analysis of space - aspects that have been sorely neglected in much English-language use of Lefebvre (to be fair, no doubt due to a lack of adequate translations of primary texts).

Elden provides a very good set of notes as a critical apparatus that refer readers to many worthy secondary articles and texts. While the publisher's review suggests that the book pays particular attention to Lefebvre's relation to his contemporaries, this is a bit of an overstatement. His relation to the French Communist Party is thoroughly discussed for the level it is aiming at, however Lefebvre's cross-pollination with other French Marxists such as the Arguments Group is not covered in sufficient depth and the discussion of his relation to the Situationist International is highly uncritical - indicating perhaps Elden's largely uncritical rendering of Lefebvre's work more generally.

Overall a superb addition to English-language study of Lefebvre and one which fairly positions Lefebre as one of the most important Western Marxist contributors.