What are critical map studies?

• Maps, cartography, and geography are related and interdisciplinary domains.
• Terms like counter-mapping, radical cartography, and critical geography share a critical approach to how spatial information is presented and contextualized and are used by different communities.
• Critical, in this context, means taking a subversive theory-based or practice-based approach to studying and/or making maps with the shared understanding that maps are visual representations of power and that mapmaking is a historically colonial technique.

Critical map studies glossary

Citizen mapping & collaborative mapping:

Crowd-sourced & public-access geospatial tools and products. Example: OpenStreetMap.org

Counter-cartography:

Counter-maps and counter-atlases traditionally take a specifically decolonial, indigenous-centered approach to mapmaking.

Critical cartography:

Using critical theory as a mapmaker and/or scholar studing maps.

Critical geography:

Using critical theory as scholars studing the spatial aspects of various issues.

Participatory GIS (Geographic Information System):

Using GIS technology with community partners or in a grassroots context to make maps.

Radical cartography:

Leveraging unconventional, innovative techniques and tools to make maps or tell spatial stories.

Spatial justice:

Social justice approaches to spatial domains such as urban planning.

Try some of the following controlled subject headings to find materials in our library catalog SearchWorks with a critical approach to cartography, maps, and geography: