Radical cartography : how changing our maps can change our world / William Rankin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rankin, William, 1978- Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cartography--Methodology.

Cartography.

Cartography--Data processing.

Cartography--Forecasting.

Genre:

Informational works.

Physical Description:

295 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Viking, [2025]

Summary:

"A stunning, thought-provoking exploration of how maps shape our understanding of the world--featuring over 150 full-color maps in a gorgeous package. Maps in the data age are ubiquitous. In an instant, places, social networks, even the human genome can be drawn up in exacting detail. Yet the ease and speed with which we can graph data perpetuates the same problem that has been around for centuries: over-simplified maps that are used as tools for top-down control. Cartographer and historian William Rankin argues that it's time to reimagine what a map can be and how it can be used. It's important to recognize that rather than being objective visualizations of facts, maps are innately political, defining what is worth noticing, drawing borders, and crafting conclusions about the ground they cover. And the consequences are enormous. The visual argument of a map can change how cities are designed and how rivers flow, how wars are fought and how land claims are settled, how children learn about race and how colonialism becomes a habit of mind. Maps don't just show us data--they help construct our world. Brimming with vibrant maps, including many "radical" maps created by Rankin himself and by other mapmakers, Radical Cartography exposes the ways maps can shape our realities and our understanding of them through their representation of boundaries, layers, people, projections, color, scale, and time. Challenging the map as a tool of the status quo, Rankin empowers readers to embrace three seemingly paradoxical values as the future of cartography: uncertainty, multiplicity, and subjectivity. Changing the tools--changing the maps--can change the questions we ask, the answers we accept, and the world we build"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Boundaries

Layers

People

Projections

Color

Scale

Time

Conclusion: the values of cartography.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-276) and index.

Other Format:

Online version Rankin, William, 1978- Radical cartography

ISBN:

9780525559795

0525559795

OCLC:

1539328508