Mapping Home : Modalities of the cartographic negotiation of place

• The presentation focuses on the role of digital cartography in negotiating the meaning of home. It is widely recognised that maps play an important role for the representation of place. It has also been argued that the advent of digital media has redistributed power relations involved in cartography, e.g. by making digital mapping tools easily accessible. As many examples have shown, the maps created with these tools can potentially challenge prevailing representations of place.I take Jeremy Crampton's concept of "new spatial media" as my point of departure, but expand on its distinctive feature that "the public is gaining (some) access to the means of production of maps". The main question will be what "means of production" and "(some) access" actually means under digital conditions. By engaging with a seminal historical example – the "Guide psychogéographique de Paris“, created by Situationists Guy Debord und Asger Jorn in the 1950s, as well as the corresponding methodological concept of the "derivé" – I develop an analytical distinction between two modalities of mapping. Accumulative modes of mapping, it is argued with reference to Bruno Latour, reproduce categories established by "centres of calculation". In aggregative modes of mapping, on the other hand, the malleability and expandability of data collection takes centre stage, allowing for established categories to be challenged. Drawing on this terminology, several current examples of popular digital mapping services will be discussed in terms of their potential for negotiating the meaning of home.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

mapping

cartography

new spatial media

accumulation

aggregation

Media and Communication Studies

Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)