The Structuralism Critique in the Production of Space

ABSTRACT Lefebvre, who summarizes (Social) space as a (Social) production, has presented his “The Production of Space” project, which conceptualizes space with its social and political qualities. Lefebvre, in the study of The Production of Space, used many theories related to Marxism as a theoretical foundation, existentialism, phenomenology, and semiotics. But he criticized semiotics because of its structuralist notion. The aim of the study: displaying and examining the reasonings of the structuralist semiotics critiques in The Production of Space and defining Lefebvre’s position in the context of semiotics. Findings: Lefebvre, in his study The Production of Space, criticized structuralist semiotics because of its generalizing view and deficiency of social contents. Through this, although he is not a semioticist, he unwittingly deepened the universe of signs in the context of space and its social contents in his later works about space. Even if he didn’t name it, his criticizing of the structuralism moved signs to the Social Semiotics thought plane.