ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the relevance of Henri Lefebvre’s ideas about class struggle being waged through the production of space. It demonstrates how Lefebvre’s writings can be extended to frame the movements to remake utopia but also reflecting on the need to rethink certain elements of his work in light of contemporary struggles. Import-substitution industrialisation (ISI) can be thought of as a Latin American variant of the ‘state mode of production’ that dominated Western capitalism after the Second World War. ISI ushered in a wave of urbanisation in Latin America and subsequently new rhythms of work and daily life. Latin America became a vital site for the reproduction and stabilisation of global capitalism. For Latin America, international debt was to become the very foundation of domestic economic growth. For Lefebvre, urban reality was always more than simply the reflection of capitalism.
