Maps and Politics - Softcover

Black, Jeremy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1861890818 ISBN 13: 9781861890818

Publisher: Reaktion Books, 2000

Synopsis

We all rely on the apparent accuracy and objectivity of maps, but often do not see the very process of mapping as political. Are the power and purpose of maps inherently political? "Maps and Politics" addresses this important question and seeks to emphasize that the apparent objectivity' of the map-making and map-using process cannot be divorced from aspects of the politics of representation. Maps have played, and continue to play, a major role in both international and domestic politics. They show how visual geographical representations can be made to reflect and advance political agendas in powerful ways. The major developments in this field over the last century are responses both to cartographic progression and to a greater emphasis on graphic imagery in societies affected by politicization, democratization, and consumer and cultural shifts. Jeremy Black asks whether bias-free cartography is possible and demonstrates that maps are not straight-forward visual texts, but contain political and politicizing subtexts that need to be read with care.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Do maps accurately and objectively present the information we expect them to portray, or are they instead colored by the political purposes of their makers? In this lively and well-illustrated book, Jeremy Black investigates this dangerous territory, arguing persuasively that the supposed "objectivity" of the map-making and map-using process cannot be divorced from aspects of the politics of representation.

About the Author:

Jeremy Black is Professor of History at the University of Exeter, and the author or editor of over twenty books including Why Wars Happen (Reaktion, 1998), Britain since the Seventies (Reaktion, 2004) and War since 1945 (Reaktion, 2004).

About this edition

• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1861890818
• ISBN 13: 9781861890818
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 188