Winter Week 2 - Lefebvre

Question 1

Why does Lefebve argue that everyday life is important to study as a level of analysis in its own right?

Answer 1

• although everything takes place within the everyday, it is often deemed unimportant, mundane and inconsequential
• he sought to understand the ways in which alienation within capitalism impacts various realms of the social
• this alienation can be examined through the everyday and in commonplace everyday experiences

Question 2

How is our modern conception of the everyday linked to Capitalism?

Answer 2

• the separation of the everyday into a category of its own may be traced back to modernity and the historical emergence of capitalism
• wasn’t always seen to be a separate category, or differentiated from more ‘important’ and ‘superior’ concerns
• capitalism is interested in fragmenting and differentiating different spheres of the social to allow for more control and to increase profit

Question 3

Explain the process/effects of fragmentation and differentiation.

Answer 3

• fragmentation; the division of labor on a larger scale within the everyday
• social activities as highly differentiated, and ceased to be consolidated into a unified whole
• labor is increasingly fragmented, regimented and specialized
• family life and leisure are detached from work
• separated from organic community and from authentic intersubjectivity, the individual becomes ‘isolated and inward looking’

Question 4

How has the rhythm of everyday life changed from premodern societies and modern societies?

Answer 4

• premodern societies: everyday ruled by the cycles of the natural world
• modern societies: everyday ruled by the dictates of technology, rules and production rather than natural world