Modernity's Banality and Miraculous: A Textual Reading of Lefebvre's Critical Philosophy of Everyday Life

Author: Liu Huaiyu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: This book employs textual analysis methods to study the philosophical thought and developmental process of Henri Lefebvre, a modern French philosopher and founder of Western Marxism, particularly his critical philosophy of everyday life. For Lefebvre, "daily life" differs qualitatively from "everyday life" and "ordinariness." His early thought focused on the "daily life" that has always existed but is filled with value and mystery, characterized by style; whereas his mid-to-late thought emphasized the critique of "everyday life" as an alienated phenomenon of modern society and "ordinariness" as the mechanical repetitive rhythm of modernity. In his early works, he adopted a relatively philosophical and optimistic stance toward everyday life, believing that the alienated world of everyday life encompasses both oppressed and liberating elements. In his later works, his understanding of everyday life became more micro and sociological, and he grew relatively more pessimistic. He argued that in developed capitalist societies, everyday life is fully integrated into the overall process of production and consumption, transforming modern society into a "consumption-driven bureaucratic society" rather than a leisurely and prosperous society open to free choice. The salvation of modernity's fate could only be achieved through a cultural revolution centered on everyday life. Lefebvre was not only the founder of Western Marxism but also an unwitting promoter of what is known as the "post-Marxist" since the 1970s. In his later years, he transformed historical dialectics into what he called "spatialized ontology," which essentially marked a "postmodern turn" in the "spatial law" of historical dialectics. Yet until the very end of his life, he remained steadfast in his Marxist political faith and the fundamental tenets of Marxist philosophy.