Lefebvre’s Theory Of Reproduction Of Relations Of Production

Henri Lefebvre(1901-1991)is recognized as the most outstanding scholar of France in the twentieth century.He wrote about more than seventy books and more than three hundred papers during his academic study over several decades.His theories involve a wide range of subjects and disciplines.He is honored as the founder of Critique of Daily Life and the founder of Spatial Turning of social critical theory.The Survival of Capitalism was written in 1973 and is one of most famous seven books Lefebvre wrote about urban and space.With the background of the changes of the organizational structure in capitalist production after the war and failure of May Storm in France in 1968,the Survival of Capitalism develops Marx’s theory of reproduction and Luxembourg’s theory of capital accumulation.In Lefebvre’s view,the secret of capitalism’s survival lies in the reproduction of the relations of production and it had been covered theoretically for a long time.From the perspective of generativeness,difference,and totality,Lefebvre re-uncovers the theory of reproduction of the relations of production based on the unpublished chapter of Capital.Lefebvre holds the view that the reproduction of the relations of production takes place in space instead of the factory,and the reproduction of the relations of production is the production of space.Based on the concept of socialized space,Lefebvre points out that the essence of production of space is to apply the rational principles formed in the factory,which is a hierarchical organization form,to the space.Through the homogenization,fragmentation and hierarchy of space,capitalism seeks to produce its own spatial form.In this process,the state plays the role of manager and controller.The state ’s control of space shows in the urban planning.The planned urban becomes the center of state and power and reproduction of relations of production,based on which,the contradiction of center and the periphery is formed.Based on the theory of the production of space,Lefebvre considers that the revolution in the new period is no longer the revolution in factory in which the working class acts as the key role,but the spatial revolution and in this revolution,the broader sense f the proletariat involves.The purpose of the revolution is not only to destroy the relations of production of capitalism,but also to change the social relations thoroughly.Lefebvre’s theory of reproduction of relations of production is the development of Marx’s theory of reproduction.Marx’s study on capitalist reproduction has a premise which is that the space where the production of capitalism happens is fixed.While Lefebvre breaks the fixity of space in reproduction process,elevating it to the dimension of generativeness,and constructs the unique theory of the production of space.from a completely new view of space theory,Lefebvre reconsiders the contradictory movement between productive forces and production relations and criticizes Marx’s flavor of productivism.On the basis of the production of space,Lefebvre intends to construct spatial dialectics which differs from Marx’s historical dialectics.