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The
Production of Space by Henri Lefebvre, translated
by Donald Nicholson-Smith.
In Henri Lefebvre's now classic 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 French philosopher
touches on a diverse range of disciplines, including art,
literature, architecture, economics, and politics. Throughout
the course of the book Lefebvre touches on these and other
subjects with a subtle touch that is balanced by aggressive
stances on a number of issues, all in a deft manner that
exhibits the brilliance of the mind behind the words. This
makes for a sometimes exhilarating and sometimes frustrating
work, though the later moments are easily overlooked by
the former. For this reader the frustration occurred primarily
in particularly long stretches dealing either in the overly
abstract or with ideas rooted, and responding to, the writings
of Karl Marx, whose writings I have very little firsthand
knowledge in, though whose ideas fail to fade away in academia
and other intellectual circles and therefore seem to warrant
some investigation.
Lefebvre's attempt to bridge the
gap between theory and practice is based on the thesis that
space, and the production of it, is of the utmost importance.
This is most obviously due to the fact that all physical
things occupy space, most notably people and the interactions
that take place between people and their environment. How
space is "produced" is definitely not a simple
idea to determine, much less explain, but Lefebvre's tripartite
breakdown of the production of space helps to navigate the
reader to more complex notions as the book progresses; by
the end the spatial practices, representations
of space, and representational spaces become
a familiar shorthand, making readers feel like they've been
indoctrinated into a small group with a unique understanding.
This feeling, half tongue-in-cheek, also arises from the
realization that space is a thing, not the inverse of things
or the nether around objects. In fact Lefebvre spends some
time detailing how late capitalist society -- of which the
study is rooted -- is in the midst of the production of
space, rather than the production of things in
space; a small distinction at first blush, but one
that is extremely important when thinking about the impact
of the Market (or Markets, to be more precise) on the city
and the country.
When Lefebvre gets on his high horse,
so to speak, and admonishes the many negative impacts of
the capitalist market and the predominance of the visual
and the fake (without pushing for its opposite, something
he contends would lead to the same problems under a different
guise), we are treated to the aggressive and passionate
writing that makes the book not only a search but a call
to action, even if it is not explicitly expressed that way.
Ultimately one cannot help recognize the critical stance
of Lefebvre, who embraces the classical Hegelian dialectics
of simultaneous confrontation and codependence but rarely
succumbs to simplistic either/or positions, such as the
popular dichotomy of Modern vs. Traditional. This makes
for a book that isn't tied down by movements or allegiances,
but uses the freedom of ideas for an exploration whose most
fulfilling outcome would be extension of those freedoms,
where individuals living in space aren't repressed or restricted
by those in power, those who have control over the production
of space.
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