COUNTER-MAPPING – BACKGROUND

‘Counter-Mapping’ is a term used to describe a variety of mapping efforts that focus on contesting dominant cartographic and Geographical Information System (GIS) conventions.

Built on a discourse that questions the normative and naturalizing tendencies of maps by exposing its embedded social relations and power structures, it pursues two paths simultaneously; it first tries to subvert the power of the map being contested by making the viewer aware of the social interests that underpin the creation of that map, while concurrently forwarding a second subaltern viewpoint (a counter map) leveraging the same politics of expertise that maps and map making claim.

Whilst the roots of counter-mapping lay in indigenous cartographic efforts (for example a community led demarcation of traditional territories in a forest using GIS to lay claims on traditional land), it has recently been deployed in the urban realm, helping communities and grassroots organizations add agency and voice to their claims as they tackle issues arising out of scarcity of useful and quality government data and maps, especially while dealing with powerful state actors.