Rethinking maps

In this paper we argue that cartography is profitably conceived as a processual, rather\udthan representational, science. Building on recent analysis concerning the\udphilosophical underpinnings of cartography we question the ontological security of\udmaps, contending that it is productive to rethink cartography as ontogenetic in nature;\udthat is maps emerge through practices and have no secure ontological status. Drawing\udon the concepts of transduction and technicity we contend that maps are of-themoment,\udbrought into being through practices (embodied, social, technical); that\udmapping is a process of constant re-territorialization. Maps are never fully formed\udand their work is never complete. Maps are transitory and fleeting, being contingent,\udrelational and context-dependent; they are always mappings; spatial practices enacted\udto solve relational problems (e.g., how best to create a spatial representation, how to\udunderstand a spatial distribution, how to get between A and B, and so on). Such a rethinking,\udwe contend, provides a fresh perspective on cartographic epistemology, and\udcould work to provide a common framework for those who undertake mapping as\udapplied knowledge (asking technical questions) and those that seek to critique such\udmapping as a form of power/knowledge (asking ideological questions). We illustrate\udour argument through an analysis of mapping practices