"Production of public space" ( French La production de l'espace ) - a book by Henri Lefebvre (French Henri Lefebvre , June 16, 1901 - June 29, 1991), a French sociologist and philosopher , theorist of neo-Marxism . Released in 1974.
In this book, Lefebvre departs from the neo-Kantian and neo-Cartesian concepts of space. Focusing on the social space , Lefebvre argues that space is not inert and neutral. He rejects the idea that space is something created and finally formed before the appearance of man himself, but rather is a constant and continuously developing production of spatial relations. Lefebvre's emphasis on space production is based on post-structuralist and postmodern critical treatises. “Social space is not a thing among other things, just as there is no product among other products. Rather, it absorbs into its concept all products that have ever been produced and encompasses their interconnections in their coexistence and simultaneity, in their relative order or relative disorder. ” Lefebvre objects to the reification of space, rejecting the Cartesian model and separating the "ideal place" from the "real space". In his opinion, space is a product of what is materially produced and at the same time “affects processes that it cannot separate itself from, because it is their product”.
Lefebvre puts forward the idea of the so-called “conceptual triad” in explaining how space is created.
Content
- 1 Space History
- 2 "Conceptual triad" of Lefebvre
- 2.1 Spatial practice
- 2.2 Space Concepts
- 2.3 Subjective space
- 3 Abstract space
- 4 Editions in Russian
Space History
Until the sixteenth century, the city was not considered a “subject” in its direct sense. The development of a medieval city based on trade, and the subsequent creation of an urban system in Italy , Flanders , England , France , Spain , America and other countries "turned the city into a single living organism." However, "the split of the city into the center and the periphery, which will occur later when the cities are exposed to industrialization and stratification , was not in the near future." The reason for these changes is a fundamental shift in the production regime of that time - agrarian feudalism gave way to industrialization and capitalism, which, in turn, was replaced by late capitalism. Thus, "the transition from one production mode inevitably entails the production of a new space", and as such a modern urban space is a reflection of the dominant modes of production today.
Lefebvre's “Conceptual Triad”
Spatial practice
Spatial practice refers to the production and reproduction of spatial relationships between objects and products. It also ensures the continuity of the process and a certain degree of its unity. "From the point of view of the social space and the attitude of each member of a given society to this space, this unity implies a guaranteed level of competence and a certain level of productivity."
Space
The notions of space "are tied to production relations and to the" order "that these relations impose, and therefore to a certain kind of knowledge, signs, codes." They also refer to the “conceptual space: the space of scientists, designers, urbanists and social engineers who are kind of artists with scientific inclinations. It is they who determine in which space a person will live and how the meaning embedded in the created space will be perceived. ”
Visual space
This term refers to spaces in which there are "through the associated images and symbols." Therefore, such a space is a space of "inhabitants" and "users." This is the experience that arises as a result of the dialectical connection between spatial practice and ideas about space.
Lefebvre first uses the idea of a triad in the analysis of the history of space. He argues that "social space is created and reproduced in accordance with the productive forces and relations of production." These “forces do not apply to pre-existing, empty or neutral spaces or spaces defined exclusively geographically, climatically and anthropologically.”
Abstract Space
Lefebvre argues that there is a parallel development between the hegemony of capitalism in the modern West and the production of " abstract space ", to which most of the book is devoted. Like abstract space, capitalism created homogenization , hierarchization, and social fragmentation. Differences in local cultures, in history and natural landscapes are suppressed, while modern spaces are divided into already formed networks of private property, market and labor. However, Lefebvre does not at all consider modernist spaces as finite in the history of mankind.
According to Lefebvre, abstract space is fraught with certain contradictions, which partially stem from the historical contradictions created by time. However, these contradictions underwent changes: some worsened, others became dull. Among them, there are also recently formed contradictions, which ultimately bear responsibility for the accelerated movement on the path to the death of abstract space . The reproduction of social relations within this space is inevitably subject to two trends: the collapse of old relations, on the one hand, and the generation of new relations on the other. Thus, despite its negative trends, abstract space carries the seeds of a new kind of space. Lefebvre calls such a space “differential space” because as long as the abstract space tends to homogeneity, to eliminate existing differences or features, a new space cannot be born if it does not strive to highlight isolation and differences.
In other words, Lefebvre sees the prospect of the differential of space as a new developing space, which serves as a resistance to the forces of homogenization present in abstract space. Thus, Lefebvre shows a dialectic conflict between abstract and differential space.
Editions in Russian
- Lefebvre A. Space Production / Transl. with french I. Staff. - M .: Strelka Press, 2015 .-- 432 p. - ISBN 978-5-906264-41-1 .