Antinomies of space and nature or an open totality? Neil Smith and Henri Lefebvre on nature and society

Abstract

The work of Henri Lefebvre has played a pivotal role in human geography in recent decades. At the same time, it has frequently been subject to partial and fragmented appropriations that isolate his insights on the production of space from his broader corpus, leading to confusion and misunderstanding regarding his handling of the dialectical relationships between space, time, society, and nature. In particular, Neil Smith's claim that Lefebvre's conceptualization of nature was both deficient and inconsistent with his dynamic conceptualization of space has tended to dominate geographical engagements with Lefebvre in this area. Following Smith, researchers generally reconstruct the production of space as an epiphenomenon of the production of nature. We critically assess and respond to Smith's criticisms of Lefebvre. Specifically, we contrast Lefebvre's material–dialectical approach to Smith's production-of-nature thesis. While Smith's thesis is helpful in understanding how capital attempts to subsume all of nature under commodity production, Lefebvre's dialectical conceptualization of nature–society as an oppositional unity points both to the impossibility of capital subsuming all of nature and the dangers that its attempts to do so pose to human civilization (even survival). Lefebvre's observations, regarding the growing rupture between natural processes and spatial dynamics, which he incorporates into his own elaboration of Karl Marx's theory of metabolic rift, make his work indispensable to the development of an ecospatial critique within geography and the social sciences more generally.

‘Revolution of space’, autogestion, and appropriation of nature in Henri Lefebvre’s political and revolutionary project

“…What could justify this delay? These questions remain open to reflection, and Napoletano et al's (2023) article adds to other works already published with the objective of deeply analyzing the way in which Lefebvre conceptualizes nature and its relations to society and space (e.g., Foster et al, 2019; Napoletano et al, 2022).…”

Autogestion and ecological politics in the work of Henri Lefebvre

“…Napoletano et al (2023) have expanded the debate over the ways in which Lefebvre's ‘dialectical approach to nature–society’ can be brought together with his radically democratic conceptualisation of a politics of autogestion in order to confront the social and ecological crises of twenty-first century capitalism. Their article forms part of a broader project in which the authors have argued that Lefebvre's thought can deepen our understanding of the nature–society dialectic and provide crucial methodological tools for critical geography and environmental sociology (Foster et al, 2020; Napoletano et al, 2020, 2022a, 2022b). I have great sympathy with the aims of this project, and a comprehensive integration of the diverse elements of Lefebvre's thinking to draw connections between his understanding of nature–society and his conception of emancipatory politics is long overdue.…”

Qual o lugar da natureza na teoria da produção do espaço de Henri Lefebvre? Algumas reflexões

“…No que se refere às contribuições do pensamento marxista para pensar a ecologia e a natureza, apenas recentemente o trabalho de Henri Lefebvre passou a ser alvo de debate, embora ainda seja escassamente explorado (FOSTER et al, 2020;NAPOLETANO et al, 2022aNAPOLETANO et al, , 2022bNAPOLETANO et al, , 2022c. Esse tema, tão fortemente associado aos estudos que tomam o espaço como elemento-chave e explicativo do mundo moderno, tem deixado a contribuição lefebvriana em uma posição não confortável.…”