Dialectical Materialism
... However, more recently, the spatial turn has afforded Lefebvre much greater attention across a range of fields extending beyond geography, such as education (e.g., Simmons, 2021), physical cultural studies (e.g., Friedman & van Ingen, 2011), and the sociology of sport (e.g., Jeanes et al., 2024;Marfell, 2019). At the heart of Lefebvre's early philosophical interests was to rescue Marxism against the orthodoxy of French academic philosophy that, as Lefebvre (1968Lefebvre ( / 2009 argued, reduced Marxist thought to a form of positivist economism. For Lefebvre (1968Lefebvre ( /2009), such a dogmatic reading of Marxism, "simplified the ontology of material nature" of everyday life (p. ...
... However, more recently, the spatial turn has afforded Lefebvre much greater attention across a range of fields extending beyond geography, such as education (e.g., Simmons, 2021), physical cultural studies (e.g., Friedman & van Ingen, 2011), and the sociology of sport (e.g., Jeanes et al., 2024;Marfell, 2019). At the heart of Lefebvre's early philosophical interests was to rescue Marxism against the orthodoxy of French academic philosophy that, as Lefebvre (1968Lefebvre ( / 2009 argued, reduced Marxist thought to a form of positivist economism. For Lefebvre (1968Lefebvre ( /2009), such a dogmatic reading of Marxism, "simplified the ontology of material nature" of everyday life (p. ...
... At the heart of Lefebvre's early philosophical interests was to rescue Marxism against the orthodoxy of French academic philosophy that, as Lefebvre (1968Lefebvre ( / 2009 argued, reduced Marxist thought to a form of positivist economism. For Lefebvre (1968Lefebvre ( /2009), such a dogmatic reading of Marxism, "simplified the ontology of material nature" of everyday life (p. 15). ...
Despite the substantial body of coaching literature that has illuminated the social and relational features of coaching, the spatial(-temporal) dimension of coaching has often been overlooked. Inspired by Henri Lefebvre’s writing of The Production of Space , this article critically explores and deconstructs the dominant sociospatial practices at Alvour Football Club (all names used are pseudonyms) and how they were co-produced and materialized by those involved in organizational life. Following an ethnographic design, the first author spent 7 months at a semiprofessional football club. The precise research methods included participant observation, informal conversation, semistructured interviews, and the use of visual methods (i.e., researcher-driven photography and auto-photography). The findings present three themes: the patterns of Alvour F.C., outlining the coaches’ vision (i.e., how the team would be expected to play), and describing the manipulations, actions, and consequences of trying to implement such ideas of how to play into practice. Taken together, the findings illuminate how the dialectical relation between spatiality and temporality in coaching was imagined and produced, which in turn demonstrated the unequal forms of power, control, and marginalization present in everyday coaching. It is hoped the study contributes to the theoretical breadth and critical analysis of the everyday practical realities of coaching, which might illuminate a spatial turn in coaching.
... His work exposes what appears to be obscure in the production process. His framework focused on the social production of spaces within which social life and social interaction takes place (Elden, 2004;Lefebvre, 2009). His background and theoretical perspectives will be traced in the following part of this chapter. ...
... In his discourse, Lefebvre portrayed the space produced by economic transactions and state policies which had colonised everyday life by means of bureaucratisation and commodification as "abstract space" through the discourses of planning and surveillance (Lefebvre, 2009;Agnew, 2011). Abstract space is the space of dominance, the space of power, manipulated by all kinds of authorities, which does not take the space of the users into consideration (Lefebvre & Nicholson-Smith, 2012). ...
... Lefebvre's critique of the educational process in the production of educational spaces as part of his contention, he laid emphasis on pedagogical concepts in universities and schools (Lefebvre, 1991). Lefebvre asserted that the everyday life of educational process is influenced by its pedagogy, hence its production requires critique (Lefebvre, 2009). Middleton (2017) describes pedagogy as any practice or principle, process or experience that affects learning. ...
... Se filiou ao Partido Comunista Francês (PCF) em 1929 e participou da Resistência Francesa durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Na iminência da guerra, publicou o ainda altamente respeitado Materialismo Dialético (Lefebvre, [1939] 1968a), que desafiava as interpretações rígidas e mecanicistas do materialismo dialético que então constituíam a doutrina oficial soviética. Como disse Anderson (1976a, p. 51), o Materialismo Dialético de Lefebvre foi "o primeiro trabalho teórico importante a promover uma nova reconstrução da obra de Marx como um todo à luz dos Manuscritos de 1844". ...
... Assim, em seu Materialismo Dialético, ele argumentouem oposição ao paradigma do "marxismo ocidental", por um lado, e ao marxismo soviético oficial, por outro que É perfeitamente possível aceitar e sustentar a tese da dialética na Natureza; o que é inadmissível é atribuir-lhe uma importância tão grande [como era então o caso na doutrina soviética] e fazer dela o critério e a base do pensamento dialético. (Lefebvre, [1939(Lefebvre, [ ] 1968a Da mesma forma, em Metafilosofia, Lefebvre ([1965] 2016a, p. 77) criticou duramente Sartre, argumentando que Como Sartre quer evitar uma filosofia sistematizada da natureza (dialética da natureza), mas ainda pensa em termos de sistematização filosófica, ele acaba pura e simplesmente apagando a existência da natureza. Ela não tem lugar em sua filosofia... ...
... A natureza se manifesta, de acordo com sua razão dialética, como o setor ontológico da antidialética: o inerte, o prático-inerte. Lefebvre ([1939Lefebvre ([ ] 1968a seguiria o jovem Marx ([1844Marx ([ ] 1974) ao insistir que os seres humanos eram seres objetivos que encontravam a base de sua existência fora de si mesmos. Ele se opôs explicitamente àqueles que viam os seres humanos como isentos da natureza e àqueles que subsumiam as leis da natureza às da sociedade. ...
Henri Lefebvre, sociólogo marxista francês, foi um dos principais teóricos sociais do século XX, famoso por suas críticas à vida cotidiana, à revolução urbana e à produção do espaço. Nesse artigo, argumentamos que seus trabalhos mais maduros abrangeram também uma teoria da crise ecológica, baseando-se diretamente na teoria da ruptura metabólica de Marx. Nessa concepção, a dialética da natureza e da sociedade estava sujeita à acumulação capitalista alienada, dando origem a rupturas metabólicas, crises históricas e novos momentos históricos de práxis revolucionária voltados para a metamorfose da vida cotidiana. Assim, Lefebvre, em sua contribuição para a sociologia ambiental, é um dos pensadores fundamentais, cuja rica análise teórica oferece a possibilidade de uma síntese social e ecológica mais ampla.
... 160-90). 15 For series of deterministic interpretations, see : Lefebvre, (2009, pp. 129-35), Afanasiev, (1979. ...
This study formulates the basic premises of materialism, which has largely lost its visibility despite being one of the fundamental philosophical approaches that have been effective in the development of modern scientific practice and the construction of philosophy of science, in an alternative way, and aims to develop a new materialist interpretation of it that is non-reductive, pluralistic and open to the use of more than one scientific discipline. This interpretation, expressed with the term relational materialism, first addresses matter with the concept of signifier and foregrounds the concept of beable as the general philosophical category of matter. Secondly, it formulates the category of beable within the irreducible integrity of the categories of relationality, nonstaticity, and finitude; and positions knownability in terms of its correspondence to these general onto-epistemological categories. Thirdly, it clarifies the conditions of existence and knownability of particular entities under general categories based on specially corresponding onto-epistemological categories (interactability, structurability, contextuality, transformability, scale-dependency, actuality, contingency). In this respect, this study offers a pluralistic philosophical framework within which different methodological positions and scientific disciplines can be formulated and criticized based on combinations of different particular categories under general categories. In the conclusion of this article, the meaning and potential of relational materialism for the development of scientific research programs are evaluated.
... The presence of contradictions often sparks a class struggle, ultimately leading to a revolution and the creation of a new social structure. Marxist dialectics has been employed to analyze various subjects, including the features of capitalism and the state's role in society (Lefebvre, 2009). Existential Dialectics: Existential dialectics was first developed by the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, who claimed that human existence is characterized by a tension between freedom and responsibility (Sartre et al., 2022). ...
Traditional dialectics based on the “thesis-antithesis-synthesis” model falls short in addressing complex scientific problems devoid of clear opposition/antagonism. A more effective approach is essential for these intricate problems. This paper introduces a novel dialectical method—centralized dialectics—based on “analysis-synthesis” for addressing complex phenomena that lack clear antagonistic features and are governed by parsimonious underlying mechanisms. When applied to neuroscience, this method is referred to as “dialectic neuroscience.” The proposed method mirrors Bayesian model selection, guided by criteria rationality, comprehensive accountability, and parsimony. Analytical components interact through synthesis, analogous to identifying the central missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle (with the peripheral pieces representing analytic facts), hence the term “centralized.” The output is the theory or mechanism derived from this synthesis process through nonlinear or creative thinking. Centralized dialectics principles have been implicitly utilized across various disciplines, particularly in modern physics, yet remain unarticulated. Major depressive disorder (MDD) serves as a demonstration of dialectic neuroscience, wherein the approach successfully identified an abnormal reciprocal suppressive network mechanism associated with MDD, which was later empirically validated. From an engineering perspective, synthetic results correspond to achieving local or global optima. Centralized dialectics provides a rigorous, flexible, and interdisciplinary framework for complex problem-solving. It has the potential to reshape scientific standards, foster creative thinking, and enable cross-validation across diverse fields. This method could help frame non-linear thinking and creativity within a scientific framework. A structured formulation is recommended to ensure synthesis quality and to facilitate mutual verification among different parties. This metascience research employed a systematic and integrative approach, beginning with an extensive literature review to identify limitations in existing dialectical methods and establish the foundation for centralized dialectics. Conceptual modeling and a Bayesian framework were then utilized to formalize the proposed framework, followed by exemplifying its application across diverse disciplines. To illustrate, the author analyzed MDD through the lens of centralized dialectics, proposed a theory, and provided empirical validation. Both the essence of centralized dialectics and its strategic implementation are emphasized. The potential of centralized dialectics to complement current scientific standards by incorporating creative and nonlinear thinking into scientific activities without sacrificing meticulousness is highlighted.
... It should be noted that the above phenomena are proven by the process of dialectical development and provides a foundational understanding of how contradictions and their resolutions drive historical and social progress (Hegel, 2010;Lefebvre, 2009;Marx, 1867). Schumpeter's (2007) concept of "creative destruction" aligns with a dialectical approach, explaining how innovation disrupts and transforms economic structures, leading to new configurations such as DeFi. ...
The author puts forward the idea that decentralized finance doesn’t act without managerial influence. The management moves from the external circuit to the internal one, there occurs self-ruling and “self-regulation” of the financial system. This indicates the appearance of a new type of financial intermediation—a cyber-social one. The potential of using decentralized finance in post-Soviet countries are formulated the following: freeing up the time of transaction participants due to the autonomy of transactions; a superior degree of information security compared to traditional forms of financial intermediation; financial intermediation cost saving, freeing up human resources; reduction in the speed of transactions; increasing accuracy in contractual relations due to the elimination of the human factor influence; stimulating the development of new business areas expands the competitive environment; information safety due to the constant creation of a large number of backup copies. At the same time, the author identified and substantiated the risks associated with decentralized financial flows, which may have an impact on the well-being of the population of post-Soviet countries. The purpose of this study is to determine the prospects for applying decentralized finance as a growth factor in the well-being of the population in post-Soviet countries.
... He initially expressed a profound concern with how the everyday has been characterised as the bureaucratic society of controlled consumption through the influences of the mass media and forms of state bureaucratic collaboration (Butler, 2012). For, as Lefebvre (1968) argued, the spontaneity of everyday life can never be properly understood through the one-sided interpretation of (economic) reductionism and/or (class) essentialism. Rather, Lefebvre (1984) argued that the everyday is always molded in an emergent process with which natural and social structures are intertwined as a 'social totality'. ...
... Se trata de una metodología dialéctica amplia que propone una comprensión de la realidad, en lugar de una verificación de la misma. Así, los resultados se presentan como una reconstrucción de lo concreto en sus leyes internas, no como una exposición de datos(Lefebvre, 2009). ...
Resumen Introducción Este artículo presenta una aproximación analítica a la práctica de la terapia ocupacional basada en el materialismo histórico dialéctico. Entiende la práctica profesional de terapia ocupacional como trabajo bajo el capitalismo y, como tal, puede ser analizada bajo la teoría del proceso de trabajo. Objetivo Proponer un enfoque analítico de la práctica de la terapia ocupacional con la intención de apoyar el desarrollo posterior de un marco para la práctica de la terapia ocupacional emancipadora basada en el dialogo entre la Terapia Ocupacional Social y la Salud Colectiva Latinoamericana. Método A partir de una investigación acción emancipadora, se realizaron 10 talleres con diez terapeutas ocupacionales con el objetivo de la producción colectiva de conocimiento. Resultados La actividad humana es identificada como objeto del proceso de trabajo de la terapia ocupacional, definida por la categoría trabajo en su dimensión ontológica. La participación radical se establece como el producto previsto del proceso, es decir, la participación en la lucha por los elementos transformadores de la determinación social de las condiciones de vida colectivas. Los sujetos del proceso de trabajo son los terapeutas ocupacionales y los individuos, grupos y/o comunidades acompañados, todos entendidos como seres sociales en colaboración para la transformación social. Se identifican cuatro herramientas teórico-metodológicas: análisis emancipatorio de las actividades humanas, propuesta emancipadora de las actividades humanas, operacionalización de la participación radical e intervenciones en el tejido social. Conclusión La terapia ocupacional como práctica social ofrece una contribución específica al desarrollo de una praxis revolucionaria colectiva que, dirigida a realizar una utopía concreta, puede generar los medios para producir una nueva sociedad.
... This comprehensive dialectical methodology seeks to understand reality rather than merely verify it. Therefore, the results are presented as a reconstruction of the concrete in its inner laws, not merely as an exposition of data (Lefebvre, 2009). ...
Introduction This paper presents an analytical approach to occupational therapy practice grounded in historical dialectical materialism. It understands occupational therapy professional practice as work within a capitalist system, and thus subject to analysis through the labor process theory. Objective To propose an analytical approach to occupational therapy practice aimed at supporting the development of an emancipatory practice framework based on the dialogue between Social Occupational Therapy and Latin American Collective Health. Method Utilizing emancipatory action research methodologies, this study conducted 10 workshops with 10 occupational therapists aimed at collective knowledge production. Results Human activity is identified as the object of occupational therapy working process, defined by the category work in its ontological dimension. Radical participation is set as the intended product of this process, which entails engaging in efforts to transform the social determination of collective living conditions. The individuals in this process include occupational therapists and the followed-up individuals, groups, and/or communities, all viewed as social beings collaborating toward social transformation. Four theoretical-methodological tools are identified: emancipatory analysis of human activities, emancipatory proposition of human activities, operationalization of radical participation, and interventions in the social fabric. Conclusion Occupational therapy, as a form of social practice, offers a specific contribution to the development of a collective revolutionary praxis. This praxis, aimed at realizing a concrete utopia, seeks to generate the means to create a new society.
... Essa metodologia dialética abrangente busca entender a realidade, em vez de apenas verificá-la. Portanto, os resultados são apresentados como uma reconstrução do concreto em suas leis internas, não meramente como uma exposição de dados (Lefebvre, 2009 ...
Resumo Introdução Este artigo apresenta uma abordagem analítica da prática da terapia ocupacional baseada no materialismo histórico dialético, compreendendo que a prática profissional da terapia ocupacional é considerada trabalho no sistema capitalista, podendo ser analisada à luz da Teoria do Processo de Trabalho. Objetivo Propor uma abordagem analítica com o intuito de apoiar o desenvolvimento de práticas de terapia ocupacional emancipatórias, baseadas no diálogo entre a Terapia Ocupacional Social e a Saúde Coletiva Latino-Americana. Método Com base na pesquisa-ação emancipatória, foram realizadas dez oficinas com dez terapeutas ocupacionais visando à produção coletiva de conhecimento. Resultados A atividade humana foi identificada como objeto do processo de trabalho da terapia ocupacional, definida pela categoria trabalho em sua dimensão ontológica. A participação radical foi proposta como o produto intencionado deste processo, sendo entendida como a participação na luta por transformar elementos da determinação social das condições coletivas de trabalho e vida. Os sujeitos desse processo são os terapeutas ocupacionais e os indivíduos, grupos e/ou comunidades acompanhados, todos entendidos como seres sociais em parceria para a transformação social. São identificadas quatro ferramentas teórico-metodológicas: análise emancipatória de atividades humanas, proposição emancipatória de atividades humanas, operacionalização da participação radical e intervenções sobre o tecido social. Conclusão A terapia ocupacional como prática social oferece uma contribuição específica para o desenvolvimento de uma práxis revolucionária coletiva que, voltada para a realização de uma utopia concreta, poderá gerar os meios para produzir uma nova sociedade.
... In Marxist view, the reality of social structures and the world, is shaped by the historical materialism (Croce, 1914). • Dialectical materialism: Dialectical materialism states the reality comes into being as a result of contradictions of opposing forces which are named as thesis, antithesis and synthesis (Lefebvre, 2009). The dialectical materialism states that all changes and developments take place as a result of contradiction between the opposing forces. ...
The philosophy of economics is concerned with the nature of reality, sources of knowledge, and the way knowledge is created. Based on their respective philosophical frameworks; capitalism seeks solution to economic problems through its laissez-faire model, Marxism attempts to resolve the problem through a planned economy model, and Islam on the other hand keeps the balance between the two approaches. The study is based on a comparative qualitative analysis of the philosophical frameworks, making reference to practical world problems. The paper maintains both Capitalism and Marxism have contributed to poverty, economic inequality, unemployment, and financial crises of the world at large. The study provides a model of the righteous economic system based on Islamic teachings for the sound functioning of the economy which can be adopted by the countries intending to switch from the conventional systems to the Islamic economic model.
... The Hegelianization of Marx reflects the growing influence of Alexander Kojève's (1969) lectures on Hegel's The Phenomenology of Spirit (1969) and the readings developed by other French philosophers. These include Henri Lefebvre (2009), Maurice Merleau-Ponty (2012) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1984), all of whom were fellow travellers of the French Communist Party (PCF), but who were never as centrally involved as Althusser. Apart from this, in the wake of Khrushchev's secret speech upon the death of Stalin, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) officially turned to socialist humanism as a doctrine of peaceful co-existence with the West as part of its process of de-Stalinization. ...
... El constructivismo y la se basan en ideas teóricas que se remontan a las losofías de la Ilustración, y a la losofía de Kant en particular -tal vez no directamente; tal vez como las ideas de Kant fueron re nadas y rearmadas por Piaget (y von Glasersfeld, en el caso del constructivismo)-. La teoría de la objetivación se basa en una tradición losó ca diferente, a saber, la losofía de Hegel (1991) y el materialismo dialéctico resultante (por ejemplo, Artinian, 2017;Fedoseyev, Oizerman, Melukhin, Ilyenkov, Lektorsky, et al., 1977;Fischbach, 2014;Ilyenkov, 1977;Lefebvre, 2009;Levant y Oittinen, 2014). Las principales fuentes de la teoría de la objetivación no son Kant y Piaget, sino Hegel, Vygotsky, Leont'ev, Luria y otros psicólogos como Rubinstein (1983). ...
... As Lefebvre (2008) puts it, contradictions are creative moments: "contradictions give rise to problems, and thus to a set of possibilities and to the need to find a solution, and therefore to the need to make a choice." In Lefebvre's (2009) thinking, the negativity of dialectical thought, that is, the identification of the anti-thesis, should be perceived as a creative power (p. 21). ...
The paper outlines a dialectical approach to analyse societal tendencies by emphasising future tensions, contradictions and antagonisms. First, the theoretical baseline of the approach is a commitment to the basic tenet of dialectical thinking: a perspective of the world as a process and a becoming. Second, the approach focuses on societal and socio-technical change trajectories and various dynamics in between. Third, it is based on systems and complexity thinking, particularly the idea of a societal system consisting of various parallel and contradictory trajectories. Methodologically, the approach emphasises dialectical thinking in two lenses: positions and processes. Dialectical positionality refers to basic dialectical positions as outcomes of the dynamics between the spatiotemporal trajectories in the societal system. Dialectical processuality refers to the processual nature of future-oriented dialectics, that is, the unravelling of the spatio-temporal processes and trajectories that lead to changes in the societal system. Dialectical processes are divided into two dynamic levels: trajectory and system. The paper presents stylised examples of positions and processes on these two levels.
... Lefebvre was one of the rare society analyzers who knew Marx's thinking way, the example for which is one of his books about the Marxist dialectics. (Lefebvre, 1939). According to Lefebvre, space is in the center of the continuous social and historical process that ensures the conflict over meanings and values. ...
Socio-spatial segregation is considered one of the significant challenges of today's cities, and its various approaches led to the emergence of different theories in this regard. The socio-spatial segregation in cities is one of the most significant influential factors in creation and separation of various social groups in cities, increasing the potential of different deprivations in the cities of the developing countries. The high degree of segregation in various urban regions can enhance the concentration of poverty and its resulted deprivations, such as the lack of job opportunities, public services, and severe discriminations. These deprivations are associated with consequences such as an increase in the rate of crime. On the other hand, increasing the interclass contacts and decreasing the intraclass contacts will decrease the middle class's role. Identifying the influential factors in creating the socio-spatial segregation in different approaches is the primary purpose of this paper. Analytical-review method and content analysis were applied to achieve the research purpose. In the present study, the segregation was extracted from existing definitions, opinions, and theories and classified. Eventually, the causing factors of segregation were proposed in the main groups through studying the historical process of theories. Then, the segregation indicators were extracted.The results obtained from these studies indicate that urban management, political, physical, cultural-social, and economic factors are influential in causing socio-spatial segregation, and the stated opinions in this paper were classified based on these five factors. The social-economic factors have the priority and maximum frequency among the theories above, and the physical factor has the minimum frequency. Management-political and cultural factors are in the middle rank in terms of frequency. Physical factor also has the minimum frequency in the theories. However, it must be stated that the physical factor is in the new and more grand theories, and it seems that it has a considerable impact in today's cities and will have a significant role in the new theories.
Keywords: Socio-Spatial Segregation, Spatial Imbalance, Inequality, Social Class, Competition, Social Solidarity .
... The Hegelian notion of aufhebung or 'sublation' is crucial here as it names, with deliberate equivocation, contradictory processes of cancellation, preservation and transformation that cut across social, economic and cultural life (Hegel, 1977: §113). Hegelian philosophy has taken on widely divergent political and theoretical trajectories ranging from teleological and deterministic renditions of the 'end of history' (Fukuyama, 1992;Kojève, 1969: 159-162) through to open-ended accounts of Hegelian thought that advocate continual practical and historical reflection, re-interpretation and political action (Adorno, 2008;Lefebvre, 2009;Rose, 2009). Adorno (2005) recognised both aspects within the writings of Hegel. ...
Two sculptures of Friedrich Engels have recently been installed in Greater Manchester, the city where the social philosopher spent most of his working life and was the focus of his proto-ethnographic account of the early industrial city. The first sculpture is a fibreglass ‘fabricated ruin’ set within a newly rebuilt section of the University of Salford campus. The second is a former Soviet monument that was transported from eastern Ukraine to Tony Wilson Place, a new arts, business and entertainment space in central Manchester. While the appropriation of the city’s radical figures and movements is very much part of Manchester’s narrative of post-industrial regeneration, the ‘homecoming’ of Engels in the decade following the 2008 financial crash and amid the unfolding Brexit crisis raises certain methodological concerns for us. Engels is a figure who has returned and can be returned to. Here, his 'double return' can be read in very particular ways. In this paper, we bring Engels back to Manchester as a figure who will immediately re-signify against the contemporary political, economic and cultural landscape. In doing so, we advocate a dialectics of geographical traces that can grasp the social contradictions and fractures of the present in a way that works both within and beyond the writing and practice of Engels. As we move on from the 2019 UK General Election in which the Conservative party formed a substantial majority government into the fractured British landscapes of 2021 and beyond, this practice becomes increasingly necessary.
... Hereto, the efforts to steer society and manage territory attempt to consolidate the general population's interest as a single striving and subtly co-opt different aspirations, regardless of existing particular interests (cf. Eaton, 2015;Elden, 2009;Jessop, 2007;Lefebvre, 2009). For this reason, governmentality seeks to 'conduct social actors' conduct' (Foucault, 1991) to achieve appropriate thinking, particular reasoning, normal behaviours, specific subjectivities and moralized practices (Dean, 1999;Huxley, 2008;Li, 2007). ...
Colombia’s Santurbán páramo wetlands are vital water supply sources for highland communities’ livelihoods and downstream cities such as Bucaramanga. Nevertheless, they face strong degeneration because of large-scale mining extraction. Seeking to harmonize divergent interests between conservation policies, domestic water supply and mining–energy development, the national government laid out land-use zones and delimited use of the Santurbán páramo since 2014. This article illustrates how hydro-territorial tensions between the mining company, the government and citizen mobilizations for water end up fencing in the collective assets of smallholder páramo residents. To understand this complex enclosure process, we show how foreign mining capital interests, urban citizens’ claims for water and government ecological boundary-making paradoxically converge. Commensuration of water meanings and values, while bridging diverse worldviews, generates new enclosures of the commons. Engaging with the conceptualization of ‘hydrosocial territories’ and neoliberal reconfiguration politics, we contribute to debates on how modernist commensuration works to commodify water and territory, disqualifying peasants’ territorial self-governance. We conclude that Santurbán páramo residents’ hydro-territorial rights are subject to the interests of social forces competing for control over this páramo territory, whether to transfer rural water to cities or to establish large-scale mining.
... Hereto, the efforts to steer society and manage territory attempt to consolidate the general population's interest as a single striving and subtly co-opt different aspirations, regardless of existing particular interests (cf. Eaton, 2015;Elden, 2009;Jessop, 2007;Lefebvre, 2009). For this reason, governmentality seeks to 'conduct social actors' conduct' (Foucault, 1991) to achieve appropriate thinking, particular reasoning, normal behaviours, specific subjectivities and moralized practices (Dean, 1999;Huxley, 2008;Li, 2007). ...
Colombia’s Santurbán páramo wetlands are vital water supply sources for highland communities’ livelihoods and downstream cities such as Bucaramanga. Nevertheless, they face strong degeneration because of large-scale mining extraction. Seeking to harmonize divergent interests between conservation policies, domestic water supply and mining–energy development, the national government laid out land-use zones and delimited use of the Santurbán páramo since 2014. This article illustrates how hydro-territorial tensions between the mining company, the government and citizen mobilizations for water end up fencing in the collective assets of smallholder páramo residents. To understand this complex enclosure process, we show how foreign mining capital interests, urban citizens’ claims for water and government ecological boundary-making paradoxically converge. Commensuration of water meanings and values, while bridging diverse worldviews, generates new enclosures of the commons. Engaging with the conceptualization of ‘hydrosocial territories’ and neoliberal reconfiguration politics, we contribute to debates on how modernist commensuration works to commodify water and territory, disqualifying peasants’ territorial self-governance. We conclude that Santurbán páramo residents’ hydro-territorial rights are subject to the interests of social forces competing for control over this páramo territory, whether to transfer rural water to cities or to establish large-scale mining.
... A dialética explica que a mudança e o movimento envolvem contradição e só podem ter lugar através das contradições. A dialética é a lógica da contradição (Cornforth, 1968;Voloshinov, 1973;Lefebvre, 2009). Já o idealismo filosófico é aquele que insiste que apenas ideias, espírito, ou mente são reais, isso contrasta com o naturalismo que começa com a natureza, a matéria, constituídos de átomos que são a base da realidade (Roark, 1982). ...
Este artigo apresenta uma revisão da literatura sobre a pesquisa qualitativa no campo das ciências sociais aplicadas, em especial na administração de empresas, demonstrando como a abordagem qualitativa e suas diferentes formas de emprego podem contribuir para o entendimento de um fenômeno. Os debates sobre métodos de pesquisa nas ciências sociais estão diretamente ligados a suposições sobre a ontologia, a epistemologia e a natureza humana (Morgan & Smircich, 1980). A revisão fornece uma introdução às diferentes abordagens qualitativas, seus pressupostos teóricos fundamentais, suas origens históricas e seus procedimentos investigativos. A pesquisa qualitativa, em sua essência, consiste na arte de transmitir e interpretar significados, baseando-se na coleta de dados de natureza qualitativa e numa teorização de caráter sobretudo indutivo. Os dados qualitativos podem ser textos não redutíveis, incluindo palavras e recursos visuais apresentados de forma estática ou dinâmica. Embora esses dados qualitativos possam ser digitalizados, sintetizados e até contados, fazê-lo requer interpretação dos dados para discernir padrões e insights. Dadas as formas amplas em que os dados qualitativos podem aparecer, as premissas epistemológicas de um pesquisador geralmente moldam suas abordagens a esse processo analítico. A pesquisa qualitativa apresenta novas percepções que geralmente podem introduzir a teoria em direções completamente novas (Bansal, Smith, & Vaara, 2018). É fundamental que os pesquisadores qualitativos ofereçam relatos detalhados de suas fontes e análises de dados. Um detalhamento minucioso é necessário desde o início do projeto até o envio do manuscrito, dando sentido ao relato dos dados e da teoria emergente, além de sinalizar a qualidade do exercício de pesquisa, a credibilidade do pesquisador e, finalmente, a confiabilidade dos dados e a teorização emergente. Como tal, o pesquisador geralmente apresenta com destaque, em primeira pessoa e reflexivamente, a descrição dos métodos (Bansal & Corley, 2017). Ao descrever as possíveis aplicações da abordagem qualitativa, o objetivo desta revisão é apoiar futuros pesquisadores das ciências sociais aplicadas que se valem das observações dos dados para introduzir conhecimentos abstratos que podem ser generalizados além dos contextos específicos. A teorização indutiva baseada em dados pode ampliar o quadro epistemológico dos pesquisadores com saltos mais longos do que a lógica hipodedutiva baseada em dados quantitativos, produzindo assim ideias completamente novas (Bansal, Smith, & Vaara, 2018). Por fim, os métodos qualitativos são variados e podem fornecer grandes contribuições, aproximando novos pesquisadores e inspirando novas pesquisas, ampliando a forma de ver as ciências sociais aplicadas. <imgsrc="https://crossmark-cdn.crossref.org/widget/v2.0/logos/CROSSMARK_Color_horizontal.svg" alt="" /
Después de doscientos años de hegemonía de las relaciones modernas de propiedad, la tierra continúa siendo disputada y reclamada bajo parámetros que exceden intereses de acceso a la propiedad individual. La reciente multiplicación de los movimientos socioterritoriales en América Latina reclamando ‘territorio’ ofrece evidencia de la persistencia de otras relaciones con la tierra que las prescriptas por los estado-nación. Este artículo explora una instancia de disputa por la tierra de dos comunidades Mapuche contra una corporación forestal, que reclama una recuperación territorial. A través de este caso, el artículo explora la transformación en los reclamos de tierras en relación a la expansión de la extracción de recursos en el área centro-sur de Chile – Araucanía y BioBio. Haciendo un seguimiento de las prácticas y estrategias de las ocupaciones de tierra de dos comunidades Mapuche que se organizaron como un movimiento socioterritorial, el artículo explora cómo el concepto de territorio es introducido y practicado. El artículo concluye que las nuevas prácticas asociadas a los reclamos territoriales atraviesan una transformación co-constitutiva de su relación con la tierra y su identidad política.
Based on the author’s 25 years of experience in researching and teaching interculturality, Intercultural Self-Defence: A Resource Book for Students, Teachers and Researchers is a compelling exploration of the subtle forces that shape Intercultural Communication Education and Research (ICER).
The Resource Book delves into the adversaries lurking within ICER - indoctrination, intellectual inertia and linguistic indifference - and unveils how they can stifle genuine understanding and growth. Each chapter acts as a critical lens, scrutinising the boundaries between education and indoctrination, the stagnation of thought and the perils of linguistic complacency. The author illustrates the impact of these forces on interculturality and the ethical implications they carry. The book contains a series of activities designed to encourage creative self-reflection and fosters a deeper understanding of the interplay between language, power and interculturality. But it is more than a resource: It is a manifesto for continuous learning, active engagement and the pursuit of a more inclusive and dynamic field of intercultural communication education and scholarship.
Advocating a vigilant and self-reflexive approach, the book will serve as a critical guide for students, teachers and researchers specialising in intercultural research and education to navigate the complexities of interculturality.
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Esse ensaio aborda o tema do feminismo periférico a partir das experiências e práticas da Coletiva As Caboclas na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, procurando problematizar as ações de mulheres na periferia, que englobam desde a busca por autonomia nas questões de construção e melhorias habitacionais até a luta por direitos. O ponto de partida foi uma prática de assessoria técnica para um projeto de melhorias habitacionais no bairro de Campo Grande, no Bosque dos Caboclos, chamado Mulheres em Ação entre 2017 e 2019, para um grupo exclusivo de mulheres. A experiência na troca de saberes entre mulheres periféricas e arquitetas suscitou reflexões sobre questões de gênero e racismo em territórios periféricos. Para estas reflexões utilizamos os conceitos de autonomia, reconhecimento, emancipação de Freire (1996), hooks (2017; 2019), Gonzalez (1983, 1988), Butler (2018) e Fraser (2013), bem como o conceito de práxis em Lefebvre (1968,1991) e Freire (1970), e o de grupo sócio-espacial de Kapp (2018). Entender o ativismo urbano periférico a partir de práticas feminista contribuirá um urbanismo antissexista e antirracista.
Este artigo apresenta as linhas gerais em que parte significativa das reflexões em torno do tema da natureza se fez no marxismo desde fins do século XIX. Dá-se foco, em especial, à controvérsia a respeito da relação adequada entre dialética e natureza, que conheceu diversos desdobramentos ao longo do séc. XX, alcançando, inclusive, as considerações mais recentes da ecologia marxista. Argumentar-se-á, no curso da exposição, que esse debate contemplou diferentes concepções de natureza, embora haja sido dominado por uma acepção restrita de dialética, de acordo com a qual ela é associada primariamente à forma de cognição e ao objeto entendido como independente da cognição ou como solidário dela. Por fim, sugere-se que o debate seria enriquecido pela incorporação de outro entendimento de dialética, inspirado na literatura marxista que, a partir dos anos 1960, deu foco à dimensão do modo de exposição da análise.
As an ephemeral event, sound is easier to understand as a process, as a progression, than as a self-contained unit. It is indexical and more difficult to translate into discrete symbols than the iconic world of the image. The question arises as to whether this is due to a multitude of gradual gradations of the sonic, which occur or alternate in short time intervals, as well as the multitude of sonic overlaps, or whether the lack of engagement and thus the lack of practice with auditory space in the field of design is the reason for this. Architectural designs often emphasise the idea of function, so that actions that take place in the space are primarily thought of in terms of a purpose-oriented use of the space. This problem is currently exacerbated because the intensive commercial utilisation of spaces is being promoted.
But what would it be like if architects considered themselves to be instrument designers?
The affirmation of the new role within planning would subsequently require an expanded aesthetic and material organisation of form in architectural thinking and demand new ideas and methodological concepts and approaches. For a form or a material would also have to be selected and evaluated according to the criteria of its acoustic dimension. The question of expanding the visually focussed concept of space and its usage practices to include other sensory dimensions, such as the acoustic dimension, means questioning visually dominated approaches and searching for forms that enable the sketching of sound. But it also means that the idea of the body entering the space and acting in the space, whether collectively or individually, needs to be included in the planning as an imaginative aspect of architectural and urban space. The search for overlaps, boundaries and unfolding is also to be understood as a search for sound variations, intensities and atmospheres.
Collective bargaining agreements are the internationally recognised tool used to
create a peaceful platform for employers and employees to come to the negotiation
table and address their concerns peacefully. However, the Ghanaian labour setting is
charaterised by constant agitations between employers and their employees, hence
the concern of the study. The research methodology used in this article is qualitative,
using specific research tools such as the descriptive method, dialectical materialism,
analytical, and synthesis method. The findings of the article reveal that the Ghanaian
labour laws contained in the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) on collective bargaining
agreements are defective mostly in its formulation, execution, and application. Among
other defects, the Labour Act 2003 is too vague with no clear timelines. In this regard,
the study recommends effective solutions on how to deal with these defective laws so
as to ensure a cordial relationship between these two labour parties in Ghana
This article departs from a critical realist perspective to discuss how fiction could be understood as a way to make social contradictions and their subsequent collective experiences comprehensible. By studying the myth of “the man and the machine”, it argues that such an approach allows a disruption of the otherwise rigid division between fact and fiction without deeming the dichotomy obsolete. Instead, by studying the relationship between fictional works and the current public debates, the article illustrates how the factual and fictional nurture each other as essential parts in the social production of reality. As the reality at hand gives rise to undefined anticipations, hopes and anxieties, the fictional accounts of the future provide these formless anticipations with fixed contours.
Avtor izpostavlja, da prihaja v obstoječem družbenem kontekstu do množenja protislovij, ki pogosto ostajajo nerazrešena, saj so sestavni del kapitalističnih družb. Protislovja se prenašajo in širijo tudi na raven komuniciranja in v komunikacijsko sfero, ki je v središču avtorjeve analize. Prav številna protislovja so razlog, da so nove informacijske in komunikacijske tehnologije lahko opredeljene kot orodja emancipacije, kar izpostavljajo evforične analize njihovih potencialov, in sočasno kot orodja nadzora in izkoriščanja. Avtor izpostavlja, da je družbene spremembe in komunikacijske tehnologije, ki jih ni mogoče misliti izven širših družbenih odnosov, zaradi tega potrebno preučevati zgodovinsko, v kontekstu obstoječih asimetrij moči in neenakosti ter z upoštevanjem ključnih vzrokov za njihov nastanek in specifičen zgodovinski razvoj.
Izhodišča monografije so v politični ekonomiji komuniciranja, ki je temeljni kritični pristop v komunikološkem raziskovanju. Avtor podaja kritiko poblagovljenja, ki se v tem pristopu opredeljuje ko ključen proces v kapitalističnih družbah. Ob tem izpostavlja, da prav politična ekonomija komuniciranja nudi edinstven in (posebej za slovenski raziskovalni prostor) izviren pogled na (množično) komuniciranje. Le ta raziskovalna tradicija namreč s svojim teoretskim vpogledom, izgrajenim pojmovnim aparatom in obstoječimi razlagami omogoča celovito obravnavo strukturnih zgodovinskih premikov in temeljnih družbenih odnosov s posebnim fokusom na komuniciranju, medijih in informacijah.
Analize se gibljejo med temeljnimi teoretskimi vpogledi, ki izhajajo iz kritičnih družboslovnih pristopov, ter aktualnejšimi tematikami. V knjigi je med drugim podan globok zgodovinski vpogled v procese poblagovljenja komuniciranja in v ekspanzijo kapitala nasploh, obravnavana so protislovja in omejitve na področju medijev, tehnologij ter komuniciranja, ki izhajajo iz kapitalistične blagovne proizvodnje, izpostavljena je protislovnost novih informacijskih in komunikacijskih tehnologij, ki vključuje tudi razprave o družbi nadzora in nadzorstvenem kapitalizmu, izpostavljeni pa so tudi razlogi, zakaj mediji v kapitalizmu prispevajo k ohranjanju obstoječe družbene ureditve.
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Contradictions of Communication: Towards a Critique of Commodification in Political Economy of Communication
(Faculty of Social Sciences Ljubljana Press, 2014).
In the current historical epoch contradictions, which often remain unsolved, have multiplied. We can attribute this to the fact that contradictions are a constitutive part of capitalist societies. The author emphasizes that in the current historical epoch contradictions also broaden and expand into communication and the communicative sphere, which lay at the centre of his analysis. Author points out that social changes and communication technologies, which cannot be analysed outside of the wider social relations, need to be analysed in a historical manner, in the context of the existing asymmetries of power, inequalities and by considering key reasons for their emergence and specific historical development.
The starting point of the monograph is in the political economy of communication, which is the key critical approach in media and communication studies. Author provides a critique of the process of commodification, which is defined (in the approach of political economy of communication) as one of the key processes in the capitalist societies, which is inherent to it. It is pointed out that political economy of communication offers a unique and (especially for Slovenian academia) original way of analysing (mass) media. Only this research tradition offers – with its theoretical insights, conceptual apparatus and existing explanations – a way of holistically analysing structural, historical changes and the most fundamental social relations, with special focus on communication, media, and information.
Analyses in the book move between fundamental theoretical insights that build on critical approaches to social sciences, and currently topical issues. A deep historical insight is offered in the processes of commodification of communication and in the expansion of capital as such. Contradictions and limits in the field of media, technologies and communication are thoroughly analysed, while different aspects of new information and communication technologies are analysed as well, because they make possible both new forms of social surveillance (and so-called surveillance capitalism) and emancipatory forms of political activism. Reasons, why media can contribute to the stabilisation of the existing order, are analysed as well.
This article theorizes on crises, injustice, as well as socio-ecological justice by taking the case study of a drought crisis occurring in shallow wells belonging to local residents vis-à-vis the deeper wells of hotel establishments in Yogyakarta.
The hotel establishments themselves are facing a crisis of overproduction—an integral part of “Accumulation by Dispossession” (AbD). However, the theory of AbD, grounded in the contradiction between labour and capital, is inadequate in explaining this crisis. As the drought phenomenon comprises
non-labour elements, the theory of overproduction needs to be supplemented with a theory of crisis of underproduction (aleon). The socio-ecological injustice resides in the operation of hotel wells that is dictated by exchange-value, while all household wells are governed by use-value. To achieve socio-ecological justice, this article suggests positing use-value as an axis in determining
the relationship between humans and non-human elements to build an interconnected anti-capitalism movement.
This chapter moves from a focus on the limits of the ECT community to possible paths forward, in particular the notion of a oneness between capitalism and culture. This discussion utilizes the important work of Evelyn Wood and her persuasive concern that Marx never argued for the separation of capitalism and culture such that culture was an epiphenomenon of the economy as so many ECTs claimed. With this Marxist interpretation now considered, the discussion moves to what is not oneness including intersectionality and or autonomous cultures. This chapter also includes a very critical response to the oneness position by United Kingdom Marxists of Education (UKME). This accounting is important because as opposed to simply agreeing or disagreeing with the position of oneness, the reader can engage with alternative or opposing points of views as well. However, if the oneness point of view is going to have a significant effect in challenging the status quo and moving toward a more equitable society, the implications of oneness for an extended Marxism are included (e.g., ideology, the dialectic, and related topics). The chapter concludes with how an extended Marxism can significantly reshape the ECT.
Usual narratives among prehistoric archaeologists consider typological approaches as part of a past and outdated episode in the history of research, subsequently replaced by technological, functional, chemical, and cognitive approaches. From a historical and conceptual perspective, this paper addresses several limits of these narratives, which (1) assume a linear, exclusive, and additive conception of scientific change, neglecting the persistence of typological problems; (2) reduce collective developments to personal work (e.g. the “Bordes’” and “Laplace’s” methods in France); and (3) presuppose the coherence and identity of these “methods” over time. It explores the case of the “Structural and analytical typology” method, developed in France, Spain, and Italy from the 1950s to the 2000s by Georges Laplace and his collaborators for lithic implements. This paper (1) provides a detailed historical account of the evolving content of this collective endeavour over five decades; (2) it addresses the epistemological question of what makes the identity and unity of a scientific method, demonstrating that the core component of the “analytical typology” lies in its particular way to represent real-world phenomena through its notation system; and (3) it reveals how this little known but significant episode of advances in the methods and theory of archaeology, contemporary but independent of the “New Archaeology” trend in English-speaking archaeology, was instrumental in the continuation of evolutionary perspectives in France and in the development of quantitative and formal methods in archaeology in southwestern Europe, foreseeing crucial knowledge representation issues raised today by digital methods in archaeology and data curation.
To date, a large number of researches have been published in terms of Lefebvre’s concept of the right to the city within social sciences without serious critique of the concept. This article, drawing upon on Derrida, has, attempted to provide a critical analysis of the concept based on the following two questions: 1) on what assumptions is the concept formulated? 2) What kinds of theoretical and ethical paradoxes does the concept suffer from? The article has argued that the essential assumptions of the concept have been distorted by scientists because they, contrary to Lefebvre, seek to operationalize the concept within the context of the capitalist city. In addition, the operationalization of the concept within Lefebvre’s utopia is still subject to critique, because while utopia is not a place of violence, Lefebvre’s utopia is, according to Derrida, the space of law-making violence and law-preserving violence. Lefebvre’s utopia is only a movement from one type of violence to another one. On the other hand, the concept is unethical for that the working class, as the only legitimate force of actualizing the concept, acts under historical necessity and without free will. As far as the working class is not free for his action, it cannot be said, according to Derrida, to be just or responsible class, because justice and responsibility are true in the case of free will agency. Therefore, if ethics is the sphere of free will, then the concept of the right to the city is free of ethics.
This introductory overview explores the methods, models and interdisciplinary links of artificial economics, a new way of doing economics in which the interactions of artificial economic agents are computationally simulated to study their individual and group behavior patterns. Conceptually and intuitively, and with simple examples, Mercado addresses the differences between the basic assumptions and methods of artificial economics and those of mainstream economics. He goes on to explore various disciplines from which the concepts and methods of artificial economics originate; for example cognitive science, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, evolutionary science and complexity science. Introductory discussions on several controversial issues are offered, such as the application of the concepts of evolution and complexity in economics and the relationship between artificial intelligence and the philosophies of mind. This is one of the first books to fully address artificial economics, emphasizing its interdisciplinary links and presenting in a balanced way its occasionally controversial aspects.
Appealing largely to southern African values associated with ubuntu such as communion and reconciliation, elsewhere I have argued that they require compensating those who have been wronged in ways that are likely to improve their lives. In the context of land reform in southern Africa, I have further contended that this approach probably entails not transferring unjustly acquired land en masse and immediately to dispossessed populations since doing so would foreseeably lead to (amongst other things) capital flight and food shortages, which would be bad for them and the broader society. In two recent works, Oritsegbubemi Anthony Oyowe has argued against my claim that land reform should be enacted in a way expected to benefit victims of colonialism while not greatly burdening innocent third parties, instead supporting the return of land to its rightful owners regardless of whether the manner in which it were done would produce good outcomes. In this chapter, I expound Oyowe’s argumentation and respond to it in defence of my initial position, appealing to examples from southern Africa to illustrate.
European settlers in South Africa have had a devastating political and economic impact that has led to land ownership being concentrated in the hands of a European settler minority, and landlessness consequently being prevalent amongst the African majority. European settlement has resulted in the enslavement, subjugation, impoverishment, proselytization, and proletarianization of African people as cheap labourers. During the colonization process, European settlers subjected Africans to violence, oppression, racism, and discrimination. This study narrates the political outcome, negative social impact, undesirable cultural results and economic effects of European settlers and their descendants in South Africa. It documents the adverse results of European settlement on African people as a result of land and cultural dispossessions. The study contributes to the debate that has ensued in South Africa because of the new resolution of the African National Congress (ANC): to expropriate land without compensation. This resolution was taken by the ANC in its 2017 National Conference. The position that this chapter defends is that land must be expropriated without compensation.
The chapter introduces land reform as a complex set of problems around redistribution, restitution and tenure, which call for the integration of different systems of rights recognition, administration and governance which were segregated under colonialism and apartheid, to the neglect of the security of social tenures recognised in the majority of African communities. Expropriation of white-owned land without compensation, the main policy issue in the land reform debate in South Africa, is overloaded with expectations and claims, driving land reform policy and programmes which reproduce colonial norms of ownership that do not recognise the land rights of most citizens. I explain how a disjuncture between titled tenure and (informal, off-register) social tenures in South Africa perpetuates colonial segregation and apartheid, such that land reform is reproducing poverty, insecurity and dispossession. I then draw on African norms of land rights recognition, first, to point out theoretical and ideological deficiencies with Michael Barry’s influential metaphors for analysing land tenure systems (of a constellation of interests on a land tenure continuum)—and, second, to offer in their place a theory of land rights recognition, which can better accommodate a continuum of land tenure rights and enable steady, incremental land reform, in ideology, law and practice.
Humanity’s present social–ecological metabolic configuration is not sustainable, and the need for a radical transformation of society to address its metabolic rifts with the rest of nature is increasingly apparent. The work of French Marxist Henri Lefebvre, one of the few thinkers to recognize the significance of Karl Marx’s theory of metabolic rift prior to its rediscovery at the end of the twentieth century, offers valuable insight into contemporary issues of sustainability. His concepts of the urban revolution, autogestion, the critique of everyday life, and total (or metabolic) revolution all relate directly to the key concerns of sustainability. Lefebvre’s work embodies a vision of radical social–ecological transformation aimed at sustainable human development, in which the human metabolic interchange with the rest of nature is to be placed under substantively rational and cooperative control by all its members, enriching everyday life. Other critical aspects of Lefebvre’s work, such as his famous concept of the production of space, his temporal rhythmanalysis, and his notion of the right to the city, all point to the existence of an open-ended research program directed at the core issues of sustainability in the twenty-first century.
This chapter explores the nexus between human rights and the right to the city. Although not formally enshrined in core international human rights instruments, the right to the city is developed by the doctrine, global organisations and activists and has cascaded down into the World Charter on the right to the city as well as few regional and national human rights and policy instruments. The chapter found that the right to the city is a composite right made of civil and political rights as well as socio-economic rights assembled together for the wellbeing of urban dwellers. The chapter draws from the South African jurisprudence to demonstrate that the right to the city can be protected through the right to housing, with strong attention to the need of the very poor and most vulnerable. It also found that ensuring the meaningful engagement of urban dwellers in the urbanisation processes is essential to equip the process with a human face. Failure to consider the interrelatedness of human rights elements of the right to housing will not lead to the enjoyment of the right to the city. The chapter also discusses the role of local government in the fulfilment of the right to the city, and argues that local government is at the centre of the implementation of the right to the city.
This chapter asks what processes of dealing with the past have been set in motion and how they relate to the search for justice and the quest for remembrance on a more global scale. In the aftermath of the “Arab Spring,” the affected countries have been going through transitions of various forms that are significantly re-configuring the MENA region. In this context, a number of new civil society actors, political elites, and international norm entrepreneurs are engaging with the lengthy histories of repression in the respective countries as well as with the violence that occurred during the Arab Spring in order to reckon with the legacy of human rights abuses (Sriram, Transitional justice in the middle East and North Africa, Hurst, London, 2017). These transitions to justice are not without obstacles and challenges, though. The objective of her chapter is therefore not to tell the stories of various transitional justice and memory projects in post-Arab Spring countries, but to situate such practices in time and space.
Critical smart cities literature has called for further research on the discursive and material realities of smart cities (Kitchin, 2015) in order to politicise them as a research topic under a right to the smart city framework (Kitchin et al., 2018). Towards this research agenda, this thesis develops an integrated discursive-material framework for understanding the ‘smart city’. The understanding of the material component highly relies on Henri Lefebvre’s (1974) theory of the production space, and his triad model of socio-spatial processes: conceived space, perceived space; and lived space. The discursive component relies on Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s (1985) theory of hegemony, with however the incorporation of Doreen Massey’s (1995; 2005) constructive critique on the spatial understanding of politics that has influenced Mouffe’s (2013a; 2013b) later work on the politics of agonism. Upon its development, the integrated framework is operationalised to approach European spatial politics case studying the regional level of the EU and the city levels of Amsterdam and Barcelona. The analysis of the three case studies is performed through the political discourse analysis of documents and websites and ethnography in place of relevant events. Thereof, the findings of this thesis are gathered into a conceptual model for understanding the discursive-material realities of smart cities that suggests four non-mutually exclusive smart cities imaginaries currently at play: (a) the corporate smart city; (b) the panopticon smart city; (c) the smart city mediator and (d) the empowering smart city. Finally, this thesis recommends that future scholarship further engages with the conceptualisation of technology as space, the development of a radical understanding of citizenship towards the imagination a right to the smart city framework and activist methodologies towards its realisation.
This article discusses how critical urban theory understands generalisation and particularity by unpacking the process of abstraction. It develops an urban interpretation of dialectics through the philosophy of internal relations to: (i) heuristically examine conceptual and political fissures within contemporary urban studies and (ii) critically recalibrate neo-Marxist planetary urban theorising. Examining the conceptual extension, levels of generality and vantage points of our abstractions can assist in constructively negotiating relations between urban difference and generality. The challenge is not which assertions are true based on a given epistemological position, but which abstractions are appropriate to address specific issues, given the range of politics and possibilities each establishes.
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