ABSTRACT
Lefebvre was once asked, in the late 1970s, whether in fact he was really an anarchist. "No," he was reported to have said. "I'm a Marxist, of course . . . so that one day we can all become anarchists!'" It's a nice reply,elusive and playful, typical of someone
who proclaimed himself the last French Marxist. But there were always unexpected twists and turns to Lefebvre'sMarxism and Marxist urbanism, fitting given his lifelong desire-his life spanned almost the entire twentieth century (1901-1991 )-to make Marxism less dogmatic and more spatial, and cities more romantic and vibrant. Not only was his life long, it was also rich and adventurous. He lived through two World Wars, drunk wine and coffee with leading Dadaists and surrealists (like Tristan Tzara and Andre Breton) , participated in the Philosophes journal, became an ever reluctant Communist Party and ex-Communist Party man (expelled for "ideological deviations" in 1958, yet rejoining the flock during the 1970s). He did a stint driving a cab in Paris, and taught sociology and philosophy at
72 numerous French universities, including those at Strasbourg ana Paris-Nanterre. Meanwhile, he translated and helped introduce G. W. F. Hegel's thought into
France, and developed a whole body of existentialist, dialectical Marxism that transformed "unhappy consciousness" into alienation; he sought erotic as well as rational knowledge, love more than FiveYear Plans. He also wrote prolifically--over three hundred articles and sixty books--on art, literature, and philosophy; on everyday life; on Marxism and dialectical method; and on urbanism and space. He was a staunch critic of Stalinism from the very beginning, though this rejection of Soviet-style socialism saw no reason to reject real socialism, nor Marxism, since both bore no necessary connection to that system anyway. In fact, Lefebvre rejected any systematic rendering of Marxism; he never took it as a holy writ, and always emphasized open-ended practice as central to democratic socialism. Fully developed individuality came about through differentiated practice, not through drudge or routine, and differentiated practice was only possible through a differential space, through one's "right to the city," through an "urban revolution."
