In Search of an Engaged Cartography - Materialities and Practices of Collective Critical Mapping

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Boris Michel
• Subject Area: Human Geography
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 530159873

With debates on critical cartography a canon of common map criticism, deconstruction and critical analyses of cartographic and mapping practice has developed since the 1990s. Simultaneously, diverse forms of critical mapping practice have emerged in science, art, educational work and political intervention. Moreover, since the 2000s, there has been a remarkable expansion of participatory cartographic production. Today, participatory apping is an integral part of both governmental and civil society initiatives in various contexts worldwide. However, there is usually no detailed elaboration and reflection of the specific mapping methods and means of design. Given the critical discussion of the concept of participation, this is especially problematic insofar as the "participation" promised by cartography runs the risk of being instrumentalised and becoming a mere branding tool. This is where this research project comes in, by taking up the criticism of the concept of participation and the common methods of participatory mapping and submitting them to a systematic analysis. In contrast to this criticism, a concept of participation based on debates about decoloniality and critical pedagogy is used here, drawing in particular on bell hooks engaged pedagogy. According to the concept of action research this approach conceives of mapping as a process of collective knowledge production. The aim of the project is to develop mapping methods and means of design in different empirical applications that correspond to the claim of a decolonial-critical collective cartography - engaged cartography. The project takes up demands to empirically investigate the new diversity of mapping contexts, styles and techniques by accompanying and analysing the methods and means of design of collective critical mapping in a multi-sited action research in activist, artistic and educational contexts in three empirical case studies, in Porto Alegre, Basel and Naples. In doing so, it contributes to discussions on methods of critical mapping as well as to debates on participatory research, artistic-creative methods, transformative education and decolonial knowledge production in geography. While previous research empirically tests and discusses single specific mapping methods and design tools, a systematic investigation of different methods and means of design of participatory and collective mapping is still outstanding. Closing this gap is the aim of the research project proposed here.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Brazil, Italy, Switzerland
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Fabio Amato; Professorin Dr. Sinthia Cristina Batista; Dr. Lucie Kolb