The Right to the City vs Play City Theories - Essay Example

RIGHT TO THE AND "PLAYFUL Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………3 2. Urbanization……………………………………………………………………………3-4 3. Superstition………………………………………………………………………………4 4. Civilization……………………………………………………………………………… 4 5. Value system………………………………………………….……………………..……5 6. Marxism………………………………………………………….……………..………5-6 7. Economic endowment……………………………………………………………………7 8. Nihilism…………………………………………………………………………………8-9 9. Sanitation…………………………………………………………………………………9 10. Culture……………………………………………………………………………….……9 11. Communism………………………………………………………………...…………9-10 12. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………10-11 Introduction The common understanding of ‘the right to the city’ is that it is a concept closely linked to the playful city. It highlights the obligation of the people to initiate a radical restructuring of the urban areas in order to boost their lifestyles. The Castle Park in Bristol, England is the ideal place and the face of every city should be designed like it. The place is green and appealing hence it qualifies as the best place to look at when restructuring the cities. The region is abundant of pre-war cinemas and many shops, which provide a good place for shopping and having leisure. Its location is also appropriate because its location at the heart of Bristol provides it with décor. The move entails the change of the mindset of the people before implementation of the restructuring plans. Urbanization According to Parkes (2009, 67), Lefebvre sought to explore truth and knowledge in the context of nihilistic perspective rather than the traditional context. In this regard, he was pursuing a worthy goal of the reaffirmation of life. This compelled him to clamor for a naturalistic focus on the existence of human beings. He also advocated for this view with regard to the acquisition of knowledge and morality. These propositions led to the discovery of self through the use of instincts and cognition. In this regard, an individual must be engaged in personal meditation and re-evaluation in order to discover himself. Lefebvre believed that self-actualization is the only way through which a human being can discover his identity and potential. This implies that there is no reference to be made to any supreme being. Lefebvre’s claim does not recognize the existence of God; neither does it recognize the visions, which people occasionally have pertaining to eternity. Lefebvre was active in the advancement of the ‘will to power’ theory. Superstition According to Walker, the relationship of Lefebvre’s interpretation is closely related to his critique given that the interpretation is based on self-evaluation and mediation, which leads to answers pertaining to the human existence. In this regard, there is no recognition of any supernatural being. The interpretation also seems to attribute the galaxy to man’s own creation. Lefebvre reveals man’s worry about death, given that there is no remedy to death. This is because man realizes that death is the ultimate fate of the human beings. In his interpretation, Lefebvre claims that God was death long ago. This leaves man in subjectivity and worry as to what to subscribe to in the times of peril and danger. The interpretation reveals that the traditional gods of the Western people were eliminated and were lost forever. This means that the Western people have no saviors and redeemer because they have clung too long, into their traditional gods. Lefebvre mocks their religious beliefs and cultural rituals (Wittenberg, 2011, 23). This means that the western people remained with nothing after the dissolution of their traditional religion and practices. Lefebvre criticizes this group in order to persuade them to embrace nihilism for posterity. He empathizes with the western philosophers for abandoning their traditions and religion in order to embrace civilization and modernism. Civilization Western Civilization led to the abandonment of traditional religion and beliefs. In this regard, Lefebvre likens the modern churches to the tombs of the traditional gods of the western folks (Parkes, 2009, 47). The death of god depicts revaluation of the western highest values. This owes to the fact that dissolution of the traditional culture, religion and values, it is imperative to revalue and review the values. This will enable them obtain reliable values, which will guarantee them self-actualization. This will include fortitude and self-evaluation. Lefebvre is critical of the western philosophers on account of their dogma and deliberations. This is a contradiction given that Lefebvre considered the western philosophical findings as the acts of will power. His philosophical understanding of the will power gives him a feeling of bliss while waiting for the imminent unhappiness brought by nature. Lefebvre believes that the most important people are visionary people. This futuristic believe is based on humanistic redemption. The future is associated with improvements and developments. According to Wittenberg (2011, 43), Lefebvre believes that the future oriented philosophers will develop a stable philosophical system, which will create reliable dogma in the philosophical reasoning. Value system Values have a unique meaning to human existence. However, Lefebvre’s view is that all values are relative in nature. This implies that they must be ascertained in order for their significance to be realized. This philosopher asserts that the values are mere creations of human beings. In this regard, values should be relatively applied rather than being the standards of behavior of people. This is the reason for allowing institutions of learning to create their values, which will independently serve the institutions. This still maintains high standards of morality in the institutions, especially the institutions of learning. This is the revaluation of values the legend highlights in his critique of western philosophy. The revaluation of values improves the quality of living standards of people and upholds morality in s society. Lefebvre criticizes the tendency of clinging onto archaic values instead of embracing applicable values of nihilism. This was practiced by the western philosophers. This resulted in abuse of power. It is prudent for the human beings to evaluate the values and create new desirable values. The inheritance of traditional values is primitive and it is equivalent to superstition. According to Walker (2010, 78), revolutions played a big role in the revaluation of values given that the technological, scientific and the political revolutions resulted in a paradigm shift in the value systems. These revolutions have ensured that previous beliefs and values are replaced by the modern values. Lefebvre argues that truth and morality should not be compromised in society. These are the fundamentals of a good value system. Lefebvre endeavors to establish a stable dogma, which will overcome any form of criticism. Lefebvre’s lacks of recognition of other philosophical systems like the western philosophies are prudent, given that he developed a better and reliable philosophy. Marxism However, it is unfortunate that Lefebvre’s philosophy is only based on the exploration of queries rather than in-depth interpretation of cultural inheritances. Additionally, his claim that scientific truths are also subject to interpretation is misleading and false given that scientific findings are facts. According to Max, Law is necessary in guiding human beings on the best way to treat each other. He also argued that human beings ought to forgo some basic human rights in order to survive in the natural environment. If human beings are given an opportunity, they are bound to defend themselves from every discomfort. Therefore, adoption law and order through a governance framework will prevent destruction of the human race. Lefebvre believes that there is a continuous struggle between individuals within a society. The struggle concerns social disparities whereby the capitalist class dominates the working class, the proletariat class. Lefebvre perspective views society as a continuous struggle between parties in conflict. The conflict usually arises from scarcity of resources. The working class and the capitalist class are always deviant of each other’s operations. The capitalist class is usually wealthy it is always at loggerheads with the working class. This is because of the scarcity of resources. Additionally, this is attributed to the disparity of endowment of resources between the two groups. The laws, which govern the capitalist class, are detrimental to the welfare of the working class. This compels the working class members to be defiant of these laws. Thomas argues that the capitalist class laws are detrimental to the capitalist class. In this respect, the capitalist class members are always deviant to the laws governing the working class members. Economic endowment According to Lefebvre wealth, power and prestige are related. In this regard Lefebvre argues that the aspect of power can be manifested in different ways. This can take the form of high social status, economic and political status in society. Wealth is the element, which enhances power. This is because the ownership of assets earns a person power. Prestige is closely related to power given that the perception of a person with the society contributes to the power associated with an individual. Consequently, this enables a person to attain the actualization state in the hierarchy of needs regardless of opposition from rivals. According to Greaves (2009, 71), power comes from the emergence of economic, social and political status of a person. In this view, power is sourced from the social class, which is usually associated with the prestige. Moreover, Thomas’s believe that the economic aspect is crucial in the context of power is similar to Weber’s claims. The slave system Slave is the legal division of society into free citizens and slaves. In this regard, the citizens are presumed to have basic citizenship rights, but the slaves do not enjoy these rights. Nihilism According to Lefebvre, a human being is just an agent through which unconscious forces of the mind act. They also share on the social-cultural influence on a person’s character. This was developed in negating Thomas’s position, which underestimated the impact of socio-cultural effect on a person’s character. He is also of the view that external forces influence person’s response to the world. Lefebvre claims that human freedom does not need be influenced by Biblical Christian oracles, but on human liberty and free will. He believes in human freedom and God’s sovereignty. His predecessors argue that human freedom and divine sovereignty are guided by Biblical principles. Conversely, Lefebvre advocates for determinism and argues that human behavior is determined by the perfect will of God. In this regard, he establishes a relationship between metaphysics and the study of epistemology. This implies that there should be a correlation between knowledge and reality. According to Kain (2010, 51), Lefebvre interlinks human behavior to scientific discoveries and knowledge of existence of God, the Almighty. In addition, he argues that the study of being results to dismissal of the study of knowledge given that human behavior must be explained by theoretical knowledge. He employs analytical skills and dexterity in his arguments, which commands more appeal. Culture refers to the norms and practices passed on, from one generation to another. The horticulturalists and the forager communities rely on farming and nomadism for income. A social construct system is a vital aspect of the society because it influences the relationships among people. This emanates from the socio-economic and political inclinations, which interlinks the society members. According to Shadid (2012), a social construct encompasses the relationships existing between people on social, economic, domestic and political fronts. There are different types of cultures like the Chinese, which arise from many aspects in society. The play city is based on ethnicity given the community’s diversity of communities. Culture This culture is based on the social construct system given that the cultural practices, values and beliefs are emulated by subsequent generations of the society (Bodley, 2011). This culture also encompasses the religion aspect. Religious beliefs and community values shape the play city. In this regard, the city social construct relates people on the basis of their religious denominations and socio-economic inclinations. Social class is another vital aspect of the play city given that this aspect involves the social status of people. In addition, this culture is influenced by the financial status and lifestyle of different people. This cultural system is propagated by the rich through the use of financial power and politics. The city construct is an example of a culture which has been immensely influenced by a social construct system. Indeed, the social construct system has a great impact on the play city. The socioeconomic order of pre-revolutionary the play city was marked by the struggle of the nationalists and the communist groups, which culminated in the overthrowing of the urban nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek. This compelled Chiang Kai-seek to flee to the neighboring Taiwan. The US supported the group, which later formed the People’s Republic of China. According to Ferraresi (2010, 73), Peoples Liberation Army established a dynamic force in Mongolia and Tibet. During this period land was freely given to the poor, who engaged in farming. Lefebvre, who had declared to be a Leninist, led discussion on the performance of the party. The educated citizens’ criticism led him to arrest several people. Sanitation The educated group was under siege. The Lefebvre led group was branded anti-rightists. The educated citizens were threatened of being denied promotions if they were to persist in their demand for their rights. The play city is reliable in the aspect of cleaning compared to other companies. The cleaning process is health -friendly regardless of chemical use in the dry-cleaning process and other risks. This efficiency can be sustained through the institution of a good policy framework tailored at curbing these risks. According to Smith (2005), there is a need to improve standards in order to ensure that customers get quality for the fees they pay for the play city. In addition, the employment of the state-of-the-art technology in the cleaning process has added value to the service delivery. The company also does forecasting in order to foresee some of the adverse effects and side-effects application for the state-of-the-art technology in the cleaning process. This enhances the preparation and installation of warning systems in case there is danger with regard to the cleaning process. This reduces the negative impact of the risks associated with the machines used in the process. The play city allocates sufficient funds to enhance the quality of the cleaning service (Smith, 2010, 61). The company has also applied prudence to change the infrastructural designs, which will help in reduction of the negative impact of the natural hazards like fire within the cleaning section. The whole process of dry cleaning requires the supplying of electric power to a location by a distributed generator after the national utility grid has been disconnected from the location. Play city has ensured that precautionary measures are taken in order to curb any eventuality with regard to electrical perils within the premise of the company. Smith (2010, 23) posits that a diversified energy portfolio, which employs the latest technology, is basic in the maintenance of secure voltage especially in the dry cleaning stage of cleaning. The systems of play cities are effective and efficient because it can be disconnected and reconnected at all times. Communism The poor people in the cities had low status in society given that their high social class counterparts controlled them culturally. The communist group was despised regardless of the affluence of their members. The nationalist group was vibrant and determined to fight the radical communist group. According Tsarouhas (2008, 35), the people in the place held the subjective feudal autocratic perspective that communism was naturally the only way people could be governed. The animosity between the ‘play city’ compelled the nationalists to consolidate support from the play city, to defeat the communist group. In addition, the pre-cultural revolution of play city play city was aimed at challenging the male dominance in play city society. People had no option of deciding their position in society because it is the male who decided everything concerning the lifestyles of the women. The pre-cultural play city society was male-dominated given that no woman could become emperor of play city during that time. In fact, even the juvenile female play city could not be given recognition. The negative effects of civil animosity in play city were many. This aspect led to great disparities in the social realm. In this regard, the poor were exploited because of lack of financial power. Democracy was not practical because the majority were poor hence they could not manage to marshal required numbers to oppose the rich. Even the labor unions could not protect the rights of the vulnerable workforce because the industrial leaders were corrupt. However, the oppression of the wealthy became unbearable culminating in reprisals from the workforce, and other groups. Conclusion The right to the city and play city theories highlights the initiatives of people in improving the standards of the city. They capitalized on politics in their advances. For instance, they used the play city to present their grievances to the Authorities. These groups faced oppression of different forms like prejudice and social segregation and discrimination. The emphasis of a class society was also a means of oppression and exploitation, especially at their workplaces. The unskilled and the skilled city people were discriminated, and their work was not recognized. List of References Bodley, J. H. (2011). Cultural anthropology: Tribes, states, and the global system. Lanham, Md: AltaMira Press. Shadid, W. A. R. (2012). The right to the city. Leuven, Peeters. Ferraresi, F. (2010). The play city. Princeton, Princeton University Press. Tsarouhas, D. (2008). 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