The right to the city and hegemony: pathways to an urban praxis

Abstract

A transformative perspective of the urban society, as proposed by Henri Lefebvre (1991, 1999), supposes long-term strategies for disputes regarding the attainment and exercise of the right to the city. At the same time, it involves a comprehension of reality that considers both the contingent and situated natures of urban processes. Here, we present and discuss a methodological proposal referenced in Lefebvre's (1991) concept of the right to the city and further examined by other authors. This proposal also takes account of Gramsci’s (2012; 2014) concepts of hegemony and civil society. Taking these references together, we seek to comprehend the praxis of social agents in contemporary urban confrontations. These methodological contributions provide an opportunity to reflect on urban conflicts and attribute meanings to the concept of the right, the city, and the right to the city itself as interwoven dimensions of a hegemonic dispute for a transformed urban society. Furthermore, these reflections provide evidence of the strategic nature of the discussion and construction of a methodology for urban research praxis committed to the idea and political project of the right to the city.