{"id":1844996,"date":"2025-09-28T08:36:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T12:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1844996"},"modified":"2025-09-28T08:36:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T12:36:30","slug":"ethics-in-cartography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/09\/ethics-in-cartography\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethics in Cartography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nat Case writes about the ethics of cartography in Psyche<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

You might think there\u2019s not a lot to get moralistic about in the world of mapping. You would be wrong. For decades now, various critiques have been raised about cartography, its history, its current practice, its complicity in the evils of the world, and cartographers\u2019 degree of responsibility. On the one hand, cartographic history in the West is bound up with institutions that created maps to prosecute war, subjugate colonies, extract wealth from the earth regardless of who was already living there, and manage mass social engineering including a large-scale oppression. Maps can also be tools that create individual agency by giving any map-reader a manager\u2019s view of the world. That part tends to be noncontroversial. It\u2019s who we work for and with that causes some people to raise concerns.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

[Alberto Cairo<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nat Case writes about the ethics of cartography in Psyche: You might think there\u2019s not a lot to get moralistic about in the world of mapping. You would be wrong. For decades now, various critiques… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[{"did":"did:plc:hhxrnk4vub7jtlcl3ve26kjo","date":"2025-09-28T12:36:30+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:hhxrnk4vub7jtlcl3ve26kjo\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3lzvj4f7iuc2y","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:hhxrnk4vub7jtlcl3ve26kjo\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3lzvj4f7iuc2y\",\"cid\":\"bafyreiawqkv5n6zrawtdkpmxjhhy6aylenyyj5cl7ynt2ozj4qqvdpv3gu\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreignvluglreph342sj2kzlp3acfitmuevizxmnvg4f7iwvks24zwd4\",\"rev\":\"3lzvj4f7tm22y\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1754],"class_list":["post-1844996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-cartography","tag-ethics","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1787849,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/10\/cartography-the-ideal-and-its-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":1844996,"position":0},"title":"Cartography: The Ideal and Its History","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"1 October 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Matthew H. Edney\u2019s Cartography: The Ideal and Its History (University of Chicago Press, April) is a full-throated jeremiad against the concept of cartography itself\u2014the ideal of cartography, which after 237 densely argued pages Edney says \u201cis quite simply indefensible.\u201d Or as the subtitle to the first chapter states: \u201cThere is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cartography (cover)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/edney-cartography-ideal-history-210x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1795726,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/11\/forty-years-of-the-history-of-cartography-project\/","url_meta":{"origin":1844996,"position":1},"title":"Forty Years of the History of Cartography Project","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"4 November 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"This article from the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison takes a look back at the 40-year history of the History of Cartography Project, which, with the forthcoming publication of its final volume, is actually coming to a close in the near future. Includes quotes from current director Matthew Edney, who first came\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1788711,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/04\/star-maps-history-artistry-and-cartography\/","url_meta":{"origin":1844996,"position":2},"title":"Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"14 April 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"The March 2020 issue (PDF) of Calafia, the journal of the California Map Society, has as its theme the mapping of space. It also has something from me in it: my review of the third edition of Nick Kanas\u2019s Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography. An excerpt: It\u2019s important to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_8122.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_8122.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_8122.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_8122.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_8122.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_8122.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1787740,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/09\/history-of-cartography-project-updates\/","url_meta":{"origin":1844996,"position":3},"title":"History of Cartography Project Updates","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"18 September 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"The first three volumes of the History of Cartography Project will be published in Chinese next year, \u201ccompleting a translation project that began in 2014,\u201d the Project announced on Facebook last week. The Project was one subject of an international seminar on the history of cartography\u00a0held at Yunnan University last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/hoc-vol-1-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/hoc-vol-1-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/hoc-vol-1-3.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/hoc-vol-1-3.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1788776,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/04\/an-explorers-cartography-of-already-settled-lands\/","url_meta":{"origin":1844996,"position":4},"title":"An Explorer’s Cartography of Already Settled Lands","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 April 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"As you probably know, I\u2019m keenly interested in fiction where maps are part of the story. The latest example of this comes from my friend Fran Wilde, whose story, \u201cAn Explorer\u2019s Cartography of Already Settled Lands,\u201d went live on Tor.com this morning. This is a story that challenges our ideas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An Explorer\u2019s Cartography of Already Settled Lands (cover)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/an-explorers-cartography-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1787868,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/10\/a-persuasive-cartography-roundup\/","url_meta":{"origin":1844996,"position":5},"title":"A Persuasive Cartography Roundup","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"3 October 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Cornell University Library has been home to the P. J. Mode Collection of Persuasive Cartography since 2014, and that collection is very much available online. Today, though, a new exhibition of maps from that collection opens at the Carl A. Kroch Library\u2019s Hirshland Exhibition Gallery. Latitude: Persuasive Cartography runs until\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/PJM_2140_01-1024x702.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/PJM_2140_01-1024x702.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/PJM_2140_01-1024x702.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/PJM_2140_01-1024x702.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1844996"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1844998,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844996\/revisions\/1844998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1844996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1844996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1844996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}