Paris has been one of the most influential cities in the world, but
during the days of the Second Empire it was the prototype of the
Modernity such as this has been codified canonically. During
the period between the failed revolutions of 1848
and 1871, underwent a really impressive transformation. He
Baron Haussmann orchestrated the physical remodeling of the city, replacing
its medieval layout by the great boulevards that dominate
his physiognomy to this day. Likewise, during the same
stage both the emergence of a new form of capitalism was verified
dominated by high finance as the emergence of the
Modern consumer culture.
The unstoppable social and physical changes caused the novel
response of the "modern movement", but also divided more
deeply the city and its spatial, economic and
urban according to crisp class lines. The result was the uprising
and the bloody repression of the Paris Commune in 1871,
whose development is analyzed in the book in detail.
Harvey places social, economic and class forces at the center
of his study, providing an impressive analysis of this
crucial period to understand how the plot of the policy was managed
modern and how urban space was used to manage
social conflicts and produce stable forms of political domination
inextricably linked to the ways of reproducing relationships
production capitalists.