i on thomas paine reviews: origins of crisis in ussr - Common Sense

Trial by Space: Reflections on Lefebvre Page 31
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domination that is inherent in the commodification of labour power and the resulting
commodity form of social reproduction. Buildings are thus central to abstract space and as
such are themselves reduced to abstract spaces (e.g. office blocks designed to offer
homogeneous space).
By emphasising space and the capitalist "trinity", however, Lefebvre takes a different tack
and tends to over-emphasise the role of the built environment in the survival of
capitalism. For him, 'real property' and the 'construction industry', and to be sure also
architcture, now play a leading role; they are no longer a secondary form of circulation, no
longer a backward branch of industry that they once were. (1991 p335) "Capitalism has
taken possession of the land, and mobilised it to the point where this sector is fast
becoming central. Why? Because it is a new sector - and hence less beset by the
obstacles, surfeits, and miscellaneous problems that slow down old industries." (ibid)
What Lefebvre means by this is not clear, however, for construction is just as old or new
as any other branch of production and in fact tends to confront more obstacles than other
sectors. In any event, Lefebvre distinguishes the construction/developrnent sector from
other branches of production which he refers to as the 'classical' sectors and suggests that
the former is replacing the latter. "Capital has rushed into the production of space in
preference to the classical forms of production - in preference to the production of the
means of production (machinery) and the of consumer goods. This process accelerates
whenever 'classical' sectors show the slightest sign of flagging." (ibid) And while noting
that the state may have to regulate this sector from time to time, Lefebvre argues that this
"does not mean the elimination of the production of space as a sector which presupposes
the existence of other forms of circulation but which nevertheless tends to displace the
central activities of corporate capitalism. For it is space, and space alone, that makes
possible the deployment of the (limited but real) organizational capacity of this type of
capitalism." (p. 335-6, my emphasis) However, while the construction/ development
sector's role in the production of space is obviously important, it is not clear why or how
this sector should become the leading sector within capitalism in general and in the
production of space in particular. It is all sectors of society that "produce" space and
require developed space in which to function and it is only because of this fact that a
specific division of labour has evolved to produce and circulate developed space. The
construction/development sector is involved in restructuring urban areas in terms of the
'logic of capital' and it does over-produce and become the object of speculation like any
other sector of the economy. But the sector can only continue to operate and acquire
exchange value as long as it provides use values and it is not this sector that defines the
usefulness of its commodities. Rather, the use value of developed space is defined by
capital in terms of its attempts to expand and maintain itself through its continual struggle
to incorporate, contain and (re)form social labour.
Contradictions of space to differential space
We now return to Lefebvre central thesis: that the triumph and potential downfall of
capitalism hinges on the problematic of space for modern society faces a "trial by space"
in which space becomes "a matter of life and death." (1991 pp416, 417). "If space as a
whole has become the place where the reproduction of the relations of production is
located, it has also become the terrain of vast confrontation which creates its centre now
here, now there and which, therefore, cannot be either localised or diffused." In fact, we
are faced with "the explosion of spaces. Neither capitalism nor the state can maintain the
chaotic, contradictory space they have produced." The bourgeoisie and the capitalist
system "find themselves unable to reduce practice (the practico-sensory realm, the body,