Choose one or more of the following questions to comment on:
1. What did you learn of the history of maps from Jeremy W. Crampton's article?
2. According to Foucault, maps "think out" space (qtd by Crampton, anthology p. 77). Can you establish a relation between this thinking and what Yin-Fu-Tuan (anthology, p, 83-85) expresses about our ideas of cosmos?
3. Can you answer the question posited by Crampton on p. 77 about maps as performance: how have emerging practices of mapping challenged traditional authoritative mapping institutions?
A New and Accurate Map of Massahusetts Bay Colony (c. 1780)
1. Jeremy Carmpton begins by emphasizing the difference between traditional and modern perspectives regarding the history of maps, with the latter, defended by Wood and James C. Scott, combining the creation of maps with the emergence of the modern state, since they would serve it.
ReplyDeleteMaps can be considered powerful weapons, meaning in situations where the State benefits from them, it will resort to them, as for example during the period of colonialism, maps were weapons, according to them, and a mere territorial presence in a given country, a State could control a territory that was not its own and force the people who belonged there to obey its orders.
Nowadays, with technological advances, problems are beginning to arise, such as the fact that any of us can make a map just using the internet, therefore leaving the prospect of the map responding to the will of the State, to responding to individual and personal wishes, something quite dangerous, as official maps can be altered, causing a major negative impact, in my point of view.
3. If you consider governements and political powers as the authoritive mapping institutions because of the history of colonization and creation of nations by them. Now that everybody is able to make a map other agenda's and desires can be accomplished by it. Everybody can map/say whatever they want, no matter if it is correct or not. It may change the known worldview but as always was it a biased practice so in that way it doesn't change, maybe the kind of agenda changes. On the other hand, people can choose which map they want to follow/choose.
ReplyDeleteFoucault’s claim, suggests that maps are not just passive representations of reality but instead, are active tools that structure and produce spatial knowledge. They reflect particular ways of seeing and organizing the world, and are oftenly employed ro reinforce certain power dynamics. (qtd by Crampton, anthology p.77)
ReplyDeleteYi-Fu Tuan argues that our understanding of the cosmos is culturally constructed. This being through our maps, myths, and spatial metaphors which shape how we orient ourselves in the world.
The connection lies in how both thinkers see spatial representations as deeply tied to knowledge and perception. Foucault's "thinking maps" and Tuan’s "ideas of cosmos" both emphasize that space is not neutral. Space imagined, interpreted, and structured through human thought, cultural systems and beliefs. Maps "think out" space by providing frameworks that allow us to reach an "understanding", just as our cosmological ideas order the universe into structures that we can comprehend or make sense of.
2. From Jeremy W. Crampton's arcticle about mapping and their purposes I've learned essencially that throughout history they can change a lot since people might change their understanting of the world, for example when people believed the world was flat (and some still do), maps looked very different.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I've realised that they hold great power, aren't just neutral tools. They can be used to control even who belongs where. For example, some old maps showed certain countries as bigger or more important than others, even if they weren't. Also, maps can tell stories about the past, like where people lived, how they traveled, and what they thought was important. They can also show us how our world has changed over time. Adding, maps are made by people, and people have their own points of view. Because of this, maps can sometimes be biased and lack its objectivivty.
This concludes that mapping had a significant shift from viewing maps merely as tools for communication to understanding them as instruments embedded within power relations. Crampton underscores the necessity for cartography to engage with critical human geography, fostering a dialogue that acknowledges maps as active participants in shaping social and political realities.
1) The article written by Jeremy Crampton was extremely interesting, because the professor highlighted the history of mapping since old times to nowadays. According to my point of view, what I found more fascinating and captured my attention is the quotation by the cartographer Erwin Raisz: "The making of maps antedates the art of writing". I had never thought at this concept before, but I think it should be a very interesting research in the field of linguistics, since both cultural geography and linguistics are really multidisciplinary. Moreover, looking at a map and comparing it to a linguistic system extremely captivated me. Mapping has been rapidly presented in its positive and negative aspects and the fact of seeing it as a surveillance system concerns several consequences, from being controlled to feeling more safe. This is also the power of writing, which can control your mind putting inside it many ideas, but at the same time it lets you be creative and express yourself. In addition, I was shocked by the fact that Google Maps is only 20 years old: could we live noydays without it?
ReplyDeleteCrampton’s article highlights that maps are far more than simple tools for showing locations—they carry deep meaning and have historically been tied to power. Especially during colonial times, maps weren’t just used for navigation, but also to shape perceptions of land and people, often reinforcing control and dominance. Today, however, the purpose of maps has evolved. They can be used to identify social issues and propose solutions—for instance, by mapping areas with fewer opportunities or access to resources. In my view, while Crampton’s article provides valuable insight into the historical use of maps, it doesn’t fully capture the more progressive and problem-solving roles that maps can play in the present.
ReplyDeleteIn his article, Jeremy W. Crampton explains that maps are not just tools for showing places, they are also instruments of power. Throughout history, maps have been used by governments and institutions to control land, people, and knowledge. Crampton also shows how digital technologies have changed mapping, making it more interactive and widely accessible. With the rise of online maps and apps, more people can create and share maps! But this also raises concerns about privacy and who controls the data.
ReplyDelete