Radical Cartography

Maps are everywhere. They 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 information – they help construct our world, making sense of our society, our environment, and even ourselves.

But the new ease and speed of mapping today can lead to the same results as ever: over-simplified maps being used as tools of control. Cartographer and historian William Rankin argues that it’s time to reimagine what a map can be and how it can be used. Maps are not neutral. They are innately political, defining how the world is divided, what becomes visible and what stays hidden, and whose voices are heard.

Brimming with vibrant, radical maps created by Rankin and by other cutting-edge mapmakers, Radical Cartography challenges the map as a tool of the status quo. Changing our maps can change the questions we ask, the answers we accept – and the planet we build.

Author Biography

William Rankin is a historian of science at Yale University, where he specializes in the history of mapping and the geographic sciences. Born and raised outside Chicago, he originally trained as an architect before receiving a dual PhD in the history of science and architecture from Harvard. In addition to his work as a historian, he is also an award-winning cartographer, and his maps – available at www.radicalcartography.net – have appeared in numerous books, magazines, and exhibits around the world. His work has been published in The Washington Post, Le Monde, The Economist, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Slate and Vox.