“The aim is to discover or construct theoretical unity between ‘fields’ which are apprehended separately, just as molecular, electromagnetic and gravitational forces in physics. The Production of Space is his major philosophical work and its translation has been long awaited by scholars in many different fields. Over the last year, the Past & Present Reading Group has taken a spatial turn, with a triad of three books of spatial theory from different disciplinary and theoretical... Review of: Pamela Odih, Adsensory Urban Ecology (2 vols. The Production of Space is his major philosophical work and its translation has been long awaited by scholars in many different fields. Furthermore, abstract space has been dominated by geographical, mental and social centrality, all produced by the capitalist mode of production. Perhaps Lefebvre’s unitary theory calls for people from all walks of science to sit around a table and talk about space in its broader form: human beings aiming to become inter-planetary, new discoveries on quantum physics and artificial intelligence, and a critical rethinking of the spaces we have produced throughout human history. Still, it is not exempted from contradictions. What counters quantity is quality”, Lefebvre says. “Intellectual labour, like material labour, is subject to endless division”, Lefebvre says. It is only in space that such contradictions come effectively into play, and in so doing they become the contradictions of space”. From this principle contradiction springs the notion of counter-spaces, those that run counter against the grain of established strategies of power. In view of the complexity of his arguments, my approach here is to ask questions to Lefebvre through The Production of Space, particularly one question which I find very crucial: What do you tell us about spatial contradictions and counter-spatial imaginations in the age of contemporary capitalism? lots of property, a tourist Riviera] develops the traits of commodities in space to the maximum” (351). These precepts mean nothing without the production of an appropriated space”. From time to time some intrepid funambulist will set off to cross the void, giving a great show and sending a delightful shudder through the onlookers. The answer is time.”. The Production of Space reads the production of abstract space as constitutive of the capitalist mode of production. The book is a search for a reconciliation between mental space (the space of the philosophers) and real space (the physical and social spheres in which we all live). It is a medium of exchange that serves politically as a “space of state domination and of military violence”. As Lefebvre puts it, “‘Change life! The Production of Space reads the production of abstract space as constitutive of the capitalist mode of production. “It lays the claim, implicitly or explicitly, to a superior political rationality (a state or ‘urban’ rationality . 1,973 ratings, 4.17 average rating, 62 reviews. In the course of his exploration, Henri Lefebvre moves from metaphysical and ideological considerations of the meaning of space … This question keeps me focused on one spatial concept among many, counter-space. Print. To understand what counter-space stands for, I must first comprehend the nature of space that the capitalist mode of production produces. It is abstract space (the space of bureaucratic politics) that produces, imposes and reinforces social homogeneity. He argues that space is a social product (based on value and the social production of meanings) which affects social practices and perceptions. This is raw political economy. The Production of Space is his major philosophical work and its translation has been long awaited by scholars in many different fields.The book is a … Lefebvre strives to reveal the contradictions of abstract space through dialectics, which he describes as “the theory of contradictions”. This paper offers an analysis of the new institutional patchwork of ‘counterpiracy’ through the lens of the production of security space. Yet as Staeheli (1996, p. 604) has pointed out, this is only one of three such dichotomous pairings. Equipped with homogenisation, interchangeability and centrality, abstract space seems to be loyally in service of the capitalist mode of production. The Production of Space forms the keystone of the all-important 'second phase' of Lefebvre's analysis of the urban that began around 1972. The Production of Space is his major philosophical work and its translation has been long awaited by scholars in many different fields. This isn’t something that the cafe or its workers purposely did, it’s just the kind of space that capital, in 2019, happens to produce — its spatial progeny. The book is a search for a reconciliation between mental space and real space. The contradictions of space thus make the contradictions of social relations operative . What is the unitary theory of space that is awaiting to be discovered in The Production of Space? The principle contradiction characterising abstract space can be found between spatial homogeneity and interchangeability, between the global scale and the actual fragmentation and multiplicity of local spaces, behind its fully coherent appearance. HB 978-1-5275-2468-2. The book is a search for a reconciliation between mental space (the space of the philosophers) and real space (the physical and social spheres in which we all live). The Production of Space, perhaps his representative work, seeks to critique Western thought's dogmatic occultation of concrete, lived experience through its vigilant and exclusive attention paid to the mental-linguistic realm. In order to destroy the society of abstract space, Lefebvre prepared ‚The Production of Space‘, which attempts to define and develop some of the necessary concepts („the production of space,““the political economy of space,“ and „the science of space“ among them). The (social) production of space. Lefebvre dedicated a great deal of his philosophical writings to understanding the importance of (the production of) space in what he called the reproduction of social relations of production. She is also interested in looking at the question of hegemony in China from a critical socio-spatial perspective. ), Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2019. His work spans some sixty years and includes original work on a diverse range of subjects, from dialectical materialism to architecture, urbanism and the experience of everyday life. The book is a search for a reconciliation between mental space (the space of the philosophers) and real space (the physical and social spheres in which we all live). Because social transformation needs to be spatial. . The production of space. Why are counter-spaces important? The book is a search for a reconciliation between mental space (the space of the philosophers) and real space (the physical and social spheres in which we all live). 3. The Production of Space is his major philosophical work and its translation has been long awaited by scholars in many different fields. Lefebvre spends great detail examining why this is true and then examines the consequences if it is in fact true. The Production of Space Quotes Showing 1-2 of 2. Sirma Altun is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney. space, of understanding it, and of producing it. The human body itself, according to Lefebvre, is sine qua non to the understanding of space, both by constructing it and being part of it. In the course of his exploration, Henri Lefebvre moves from metaphysical and ideological considerations of … This later phase deals with social space itself as a national and 'planetary' expression of modes of production. The Production of Space is his major philosophical work and its translation has been long awaited by scholars in many different fields. . More importantly, what is happening in urban space in front of our eyes, the things happening here and now, that keep us questioning the role of space within contemporary capitalism? The quasi-logical presupposition of an identity between mental space (the space of the philosophers and epistemologists) and real space creates an abyss between the mental sphere on one side and the physical and social spheres on the other. At the same time, a political space is instituted by state. Yet, the complexity of Lefebvre’s spatial theory does not only lie in the multiple forms of space that he conceptualizes. “Capitalism and neocapitalism have produced abstract space, which includes the ‘world of commodities’, its ‘logic’ and its worldwide strategies, as well as the power of money and that of the political state”, Lefebvre says. The Bean was exactly the type of space our current mode of production (one in which the various cognitive effects of pop music has become so central) would generate, and it’s exactly this kind of space that would continue to perpetuate that mode. It is important to have a spatial or geographical Henri Lefebvre has considerable claims to be the greatest living philosopher. Centrality is functional for the reproduction of capitalist relations of production to the extent that it pursues totality. . It is hard to be a student of political economy and not think about a political economy of space (as Henri Lefebvre puts it) or spatial political economy (as Frank Stilwell puts it). The book is beautifully written but accessible and Lefebvre's notion of space and how we constructed it, fascinating. At the same time, a political space is instituted by state. Donald Nicholson-Smith. So too, technology has been critical to the domination of conceived space over lived space as … Lefebvre's argument in The Production of Space is that space is a social product, or a complex social construction (based on values, and the social production of meanings) which affects spatial practices and perceptions. How can one review a book of more than 400 pages that is full of sophisticated philosophical-theoretical discussions on space, taking the reader to a long historical journey from Ancient Greek Temples to Roman villas, from the rise of medieval towns to the capitalist world of phallic skyscrapers, “bearing the heavy cargo of myth”? “What runs counter to a society founded on exchange is a primacy of use. But how? To borrow from Gramsci, the war of manoeuver and the war of position, as strategies of change, must be employed spatially. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime.The concept of space is considered to be of fundamental importance to an understanding … Conclusion– The Production of Space • Specialized fragmentation of space – both mental and real – to bring together a unified production of space. The Production of Space is his major philosophical work and its translation has been long awaited by scholars in many different fields. social production of space, undertaken around five intersecting themes: language and meaning, the separation of space and time, the processes of production and construction, empowerment and value, and space and place. What is produced is the space of exchange. Situated in and producing this space, is, of course, the body. As such it brings together verbal signs (words and sentences, along with the meaning invested in 1 them by a signifying process) and non-verbal signs (music, sounds, evocations, architectural constructions). The book is a search for a reconciliation between mental space (the space of the philosophers) and real space (the physical and social spheres in which we all live). Her research interests lie in the political economy of contemporary China, specifically in social welfare transformation and urban poverty. Trans. "Production of Space, The" published on by Oxford University Press. The Production of Space is his major philosophical work and its translation has been long awaited by scholars in many different fields. In it, the situationists are located in a certain space; their existence and contributions to the revolutionary movement are neither ignored nor over-emphasized. Review of Doreen Massey: Critical Dialogues, Winner of the 2018 Australian International Political Economy Network (AIPEN) Richard Higgott Journal Article Prize, A Political Economy of Australian Capitalism, Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE), Debating Economic Ideas in Political Time, Debating Mass Strikes and Social Movements in Brazil and India, Debating War and Social Change in Modern Europe, Debating Social Movements in Latin America, The Military Roots of Neoliberal Governance, Literary Geographies of Political Economy, Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ). What is more, the relationship between time and space, or to be more accurate, “different but inseparable” space-time lies fundamentally at the heart of his spatial exploration. Hence, counter-spaces target the state, the primary organiser of space, and the struggle between dominant state space and counter-spaces takes place in the urban sphere. Social space is a social product. It is a medium of exchange that serves politically as a “space of state domination and of military violence”. the centre continues effectively to concentrate wealth, means of action, knowledge, information and ‘culture’”. The status of such categories had hitherto Lefebvre, H. (1991). Through an interpretation of Lefebvre's discussion of technology in The Production of Space, I suggest how the role of technology in the transformation of space is not limited to those globalizing processes through which the world has been made increasingly interconnected in space and time. Main Argument: 1. The fields we are concerned with are, first, the physical nature, the Cosmos; secondly, the mental, including logical and formal abstractions; and thirdly, the social”. How to cite “The production of space” by Henri Lefebvre APA citation. The (social) Production of Space. Change society!’. The book is a search for a reconciliation between mental space (the space of the philosophers) and real space (the physical and social spheres in which we all live). This idea is the central argument in the book The Survival of Capitalism, written as a sort of prelude to La Production de l'espace (1974) (The Production of Space). These are the very same things that leave us hanging between important life decisions: do we have anything else to lose other than our possibility of buying a house in exchange for a life-long mortgage? “Theoretical thought…has re-embraced the body along with space, in space, and as the generator (or producer) of space,” Lefebvre wrote. Or should we fight for our “right to the city” against intensified privatisation, policing and the surveillance of urban space? This can be distinguished from public space that is held in some form of commons (Blackmar, 2006, Blomley, 2005, pp. That, of course, brings me to one of Lefebvre’s widely referred concepts, abstract space. The notion that production of space and product are linked closely leads Lefebvre to the idea that “a social space is a social product” meaning that the space is defined and is a product of the social history itself. Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. The Production of Space by Henri Lefebvre. The space … This is especially because Lefebvre was a critic of structuralist linguistics, a tradition founded by Ferdinand de Saussure and followed by authors such as Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida and Julia Kristeva. What comes into focus then are the historical and contemporary processes of securing the conditions of capital circulation through war, law, primitive accumulation, and the enclosure of maritime spaces. Lefebvre says, “No space ever vanishes utterly, leaving no trace” and “in space, what came earlier continues to underpin what follows”. a centrality of this order expels all peripheral elements with a violence that is inherent in space itself . In the course of his exploration, Henri Lefebvre moves from metaphysical and ideological considerations of … Enrich your vocabulary with the English Definition dictionary Odih, a ... Discussing the The production of space and spatial fetishism is entirely bound up with the development of capitalism: “The fetishism of an abstract economics is being transformed into the fetishism of an abstract economic space. Nevertheless, “what is it that a buyer acquires when he [sic] purchases a space? In the course of his exploration, Henri Lefebvre moves from metaphysical and ideological considerations of the meaning of space … APA. The Production of Space is his major philosophical work and its translation has been long awaited by scholars in many different fields. “Socio-political contradictions are realised spatially. dimension to political economic analysis, just as it is important... To higher-degree research students within the School of Social and Political Sciences. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 1991. Formatted according to the APA Publication Manual 7 th edition. By absorbing use value and favouring homogenisation over appropriation; interchangeability over difference; repetitiveness over lived time; visual over sensual experience. This is a brilliant work and anyone interested in the Humanities should read this as it has a wide application. An expression of grassroots opposition to abstract space and its hegemonic representations, counter-spaces embody “counter-plans and counter-projects designed to thwart strategies, plans and programs imposed from above”. According to most historians of Western thought, Descartes had brought to an end the Aristotelian tradition which held that space and time were among those categories which facilitated the naming and classing of the evidence of the senses. The book is a search for a reconciliation between mental space (the space of the philosophers) and real space (the physical and social spheres in which we all live). In the course of his exploration, Henri Lefebvre moves from metaphysical and ideological considerations of … Once you start reading, you realise that The Production of Space should be read as production of spaces, as Lefebvre talks about many of them: social space, spatial practice, representations of space, representational spaces, absolute space, abstract space, dominated space, appropriated space, organic space, differential space, to name a few. To this point, private space has been used in a material sense, based on the ownership of real property. The Production of Space. . Notify me of follow-up comments by email. “[T]here there are different levels of space, from very abstract, crude, natural space (‘absolute space’) to more complex spatialities whose significance is socially produced (‘social space’).” 2. These works have deeply influenced current urban theory, mainly within human geography, as seen in the current work of authors such as David Harvey, Dolores H… What is produced is the space of exchange. working-out of the concept of space, and the key to its mature form. Simply copy it to the References page as is. Lefebvre dedicated a great deal of his philosophical writings to understanding the importance of (the production of) space in what he called the reproduction of social relations of production. As a Marxist thinker, Lefebvre looks at a space and its production through a three-part dialectic between every day practices and perceptions, representations and the spatial imaginary of the time. . • Lefebvre is able to make this observations through his epistemological shift that moves from conceiving "things in space" to that of the "actual production of space“ • Building upon a Marxist idea of ‘production’ he demystifies the dynamic relationships of captialist commoditization and acknowledges that space … The Production of Space contains numerous references to language’s role in space. The Production of Space is his major philosophical work and its translation has been long awaited by scholars in many different fields. 283–284). production space definition in English dictionary, production space meaning, synonyms, see also 'production line',production platform',pair production',mass production'. . Blackwell. The very fact that Struggle for change has always been spatial and space has always been a zone for social struggles. If you need more information on APA citations check out our APA citation guide or start citing with the BibGuru APA citation generator. Space-become-commodity [e.g. analytical and political challenges. The Production of Space was originally published in French in 1974, and translated into English by the ex-situationist Donald Nicholson-Smith in 1991. 48 PLAN OF THE PRESENT WORK.