Readings! Flashcards
What does Harley argue? What thought does this stem from?
Championing a non-positivist view of cartography, Harley argues that Geography has overlooked the discourse of maps, and how they can be manipulated by powerful actors in society. Identifies three areas of importance in maps: language, iconology, map knowledge as a social product.
What does Blomley argue? What thought does this stem from?
Blomely (2003) asks readers to reconsider assumptions about the relationship between law and violence, by highlighting that the rule of law itself relies on the threat of force. Blomley posits that the cartographic techniques employed during the Age of Empire are intrinsically linked to ‘violence’. The processes of mapping, surveying, and establishing property regimes were not neutral acts but were enforced through physical force or threat.
What three cartographic techniques does Blomely (2003) refer to?
1) Survey - a violent act that displaces indigenous people and impose new foreign property systems.
2) Grid - used in urban planning, imposing a rigid structure on landscape, disregarding existing spatial practices
3) Frontier: the edge of civilisation
What are the two readings underpinning the module? from a critical cartographic perspective?
Harley (1988) & Cosgrove (2001)
What does Cosgrove argue?
Cosgrove (2001) argues that critical geographical thought has long over looked maps. In particular, conceptualising the ‘globe’ over time has developed a set of Western imaginaries.
What western imaginaries does Cosgrove (2001) argue representations of the earth as a globe have created?
1) a whole spherical body symbolises the earth as a whole, global unity transcending geographical and political boundaries
2) Connected to political powerful ideas of human unity.
3) Globe impacting cultural narratives, embedded in cultural identity.
4) Inspired poets, artists, and visoinaires.
What does Ploszajaska (2000) argue?
Rooted in critical cartographic thought, Polszajaska (2000) argues that during the Age of Empire, particularly the second Empire, that geographical thought (particularly, maps, photographs and exhibitions) played a key role in constructing and perpetuating cultural identities associated with imperial Britain.
How does Ploszajaska (2000) critically discuss the role of geographic thought during the Age of Empire, particularly imperial Britain?
Ploszajaska (2000) critically discusses how geography, and its reproduction was never a passive observe but a key actor in imperial process.
1) Royal Geographical Society - facilitated the Scramble for Africa and the dividing of the continent (1880-1913)
2) (educational) Textbook content depicted a taxonomic world order with Britain at the top, based in environmental determinist thought.
3) Visual imagery - helped spread particular imaginaries about Britain’s empire and place in the world.
