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Trial by Space: Reflections on Lefebvre Puge 33
contradictions. These are contradictions of. society - contradictions between one thing and
another within socie ty... - that simply emerge in space, at the level of space, and so
engender the contradictions of space." (1991 p358) If the social is inherently spatial and
can only exists as such, then the former cannot be juxtaposed to the latter; social
contradictions do not exist in space but express themselves spatially.
Having moved from the contradictory nature of abstract space to contradictions of space,
Lefebvre suggests that the latter contains the potential space for the emergence of a new
order, that of djfserentiul space. "The 'right to difference' is a formal designation for
something that may be achieved through practical action, through effective struggle -
namely concrete differences ....This is a 'right' whose only justification lies in its content;
it is thus diametrically opposed to the right of property, which is given validity by its
logical and legal form as the basic code of relationships under the capitalist mode of
production." (Lefebvre 1991 p396-7) But given the emphasis placed on spatiality by
Lefebvre, space "itself" appears to become the instrument in moving towards, as well as
the goal of, this new order: "space is becoming the principal stake of goal-directed actions
and struggles" and as such marks "a transitional period between the mode of production of
things in space and mode of production of space." (1991 p410) Space, then, for Lefebvre,
is not simply a medium. "its role is less and less neutral, more and more active, both as
instrument and goal, as means and as end. Confining it to so narrow a category as that of
'medium' is consequently woefully inadequate." (1991 p41 1) It is not clear what Lefebvre
means here, although he does refer to the possibility that the contradictions of (abstract)
space can give rise to "counter projects" and "counter spaces", ones which counter quantity
with quality, exchange value with use value, and give rise to differential space. Here,
Lefebvre makes an important distinction between Ltduced differences - differences internal
to the whole and brought into being by that whole as a necessary moment in its
reproduction - and produced differences which escape the systems rule. He also points out
that the latter can in turn become reduced differences by being forced back into the system
hough constraint and violence. In this respect, given Lefebvre's conception of the state
as "organiser of space", the state becomes the principal means through which emerging
differential space is confined to the "induced or "reduced" variety. But as space is central
to achieving the new order for Lefebvre, the state must become the object of struggle. its
"ability to intervene in space must be turned back against it, by grass-roots opposition."
(1991 p383) What form this "opposition" takes, nor how space becomes an instrument
and goal of this opposition. is not elaborated on by Lefebvre. Earlier in his work,
Lefebvre does however refer to the subversive power of the body (1991 p89) and to the
importance of class struggle. "Indeed," argues Lefebvre, "it is that struggle alone which
prevents abstract space from taking over the whole planet and papering over all differences.
Only the class struggle has the capacity to differentiate, to generate differences which are
not intrinsic to economic growth gua strategy, 'logic' or 'system' ...." (1991 p55) But this
capacity is limited because the class struggle does not appear to be internal to the capital
relation but enters from the outside, for, as Lefebvre puts it, "the class struggle is waged
under the hegemony of the bourgeoisie." (1991 p59). Also, as noted above, class
struggle and history refer to the contradictions in space, whereas it is the contradictions of
space that are important for Lefebvre.
Conclusion
To conclude, then, Lefebvre grovides many insights and brings to the fore the forgotten,
yet ever present, spatiality of social existence and the ways in which that spatiality is
produced, lived and experienced and how it can in turn serve to maintain social relations in