Rhythm as Energy in Space and Time: Engaging Rhythmanalysis with Climate Change and Urban Mobility Transitions

In rhythmanalysis, energy is positioned centre stage in defining what rhythm is and how it manifests: everywhere where there is interaction between a place, a time and an expenditure of energy there is rhythm (Lefebvre, 1992/2004, p. 15). However, there is no further explication and little engagement in subsequent scholarship. I discuss this absence and propose a thermodynamic, materialist understanding of the energy in rhythm, linking to Lefebvre's interest in physics-thinking, and to his and Régulier's commitment to a multi-disciplinary rhythmanalytic project. I consider the polyrhythmic interweaving of energy flows in everyday life and the relationship between the techno-energy of energy systems, and the ‘natural’ energetic exchanges of planetary movements, ecological processes and organism functioning, including human bodies. I outline how an energetically oriented, multi-disciplinary rhythmanalysis can be applied to the climate crisis, to its arrhythmic consequences as well as to its making and mitigation in the rhythms of society and economy. I then focus on the rhythm energies of urban life and the challenges of transitioning urban mobility away from the domination of hydrocarbon-powered automobility systems. The polyrhythmic structure of urban automobility is characterised, encompassing rhythms of fuel supply, fuelling, vehicle movement and pollution generation. The rhythm-energetic shifts involved in moving to shared public transport, electric rather than hydrocarbon powered vehicles and to the corporeal, calorie-fuelled rhythms of walking and cycling are laid out, considering what they change, what they retain and what they add to the polyrhythmia of urban mobility.