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      Theorising democratic space with and beyond Henri Lefebvre

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      Urban Studies
      SAGE Publications

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          Abstract

          The purpose of this article is to theorise space in a way that resonates with democracy. It develops a radical understanding of democracy, as an affirmative project undertaken by people to directly manage their affairs themselves. To theorise space, the article takes up Henri Lefebvre’s concept of ‘differential space’, which it conceives as an autonomous force that produces itself through the operation of desire. This self-production, Lefebvre argues, takes place in and through everyday acts of survival of those who inhabit space. The article then situates this abstract discussion of space, again following Lefebvre, in the context of ongoing worldwide urbanisation. The urban, Lefebvre argues, has agglomerated not only capitalist productive power but also the differences that exist outside of capitalist logic, and so it is where we should be looking for revolutionary difference in the world today. Taking all these insights together, we can see the project of democracy as an affirmative project undertaken by people to directly manage the production of urban space themselves. Lastly, the article argues that the project of democracy must extend beyond Lefebvre’s thought. It thinks through one example, which is the question of the ‘we’ of democracy. It argues that to properly understand the question of difference in democratic community, we are very well served in turning to the work of Judith Butler.

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          Most cited references37

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          Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly

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            Urban Democracy and the Local Trap

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              Notes towards autonomous geographies: creation, resistance and self-management as survival tactics

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Urban Studies
                Urban Studies
                SAGE Publications
                0042-0980
                1360-063X
                November 2022
                February 01 2022
                November 2022
                : 59
                : 15
                : 3041-3059
                Affiliations
                [1 ]University of Washington, USA
                Article
                10.1177/00420980211067915
                15ca76e8-7d19-46a9-81f0-22271c73f524
                © 2022

                http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license

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