A projection space is a collection of spaces interrelated by the combinatorics of projection onto tensor factors in a symmetric monoidal background category. Examples include classical configuration spaces, orbit configuration spaces, the graphical configuration spaces of Eastwood–Huggett, the simplicial configuration spaces of Cooper–de Silva–Sazdanovic, the generalized configuration spaces of Petersen, and Stiefel manifolds. We show that, under natural assumptions on the background category, the homology of a projection space is calculated by the Chevalley–Eilenberg complex of a certain generalized Lie algebra. We identify conditions on this Lie algebra implying representation stability in the classical setting of finite sets and injections.