Rethinking the Power of Maps

A contemporary follow-up to the groundbreaking Power of Maps, this book takes a fresh look at what maps do, whose interests they serve, and how they can be used in surprising, creative, and radical ways. Denis Wood describes how cartography facilitated the rise of the modern state and how maps continue to embody and project the interests of their creators. He demystifies the hidden assumptions of mapmaking and explores the promises and limitations of diverse counter-mapping practices today. Thought-provoking illustrations include U.S. Geological Survey maps; electoral and transportation maps; and numerous examples of critical cartography, participatory GIS, and map art.

Review:

"A captivating contribution to our understanding of maps and mapping practice. Wood offers a broad canvas of maps, map makers, and map users, linking traditional cartographies to exciting new experiments. He explores the ways in which, as maps make propositions about the world, they shape how we understand and live in it. This is a book you cannot put down and one that demands to be read in one or two sittings. It may be the best book on maps and mapping I have read."--John Pickles, Earl N. Phillips Distinguished Professor of International Studies and Chair, Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"In an age when mapping is sexy again, Wood explains why it should matter to everyone, how maps came to be deployed by states, and how the authority of the image is now being used by many different voices. This is a passionate humanist argument for a critical approach to mapping, strongly academic but reassuringly accessible. Wood's work always challenges; the style and panache of his scholarship carry the reader along and persuade us to listen to his original ideas. Mapping and counter-mapping are brought together for the first time. Researchers and students across the social sciences, and indeed from all disciplines, should read this book and take its lessons to heart!"--Chris Perkins, Senior Lecturer, Geography, University of Manchester, United Kingdom

"Rethinking the Power of Maps sharpens the argument of Wood's earlier work and focuses its attention on the construction of power. Every student of cartography should take notice."--Nicholas Chrisman, Department of Geomatic Sciences, Universite Laval, Quebec, Canada

"It is hard to dispute the quality of the writing and comprehensiveness of this volume. Readers will struggle to put the book down as they are led through Wood's wide-ranging critique of maps and mapmaking. It is sufficiently detailed for specialists, whilst remaining accessible to enthusiasts....Provides one of the most interesting histories of cartography and mapping that I have read....An important contribution; the arguments Wood presents are compelling, and made more so by his writing style. In an era when maps are ubiquitous, disposable, and can be created by more people than ever, Wood's insights are of increasing importance. I therefore highly recommend this book to anyone with a personal or professional interest in maps or mapmaking."--Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design

"Besides chronicling [the] power and agency of maps with numerous historical and contemporary accounts, Rethinking the Power of Maps contains a brilliantly written, major case study, the mapping and counter-mapping and counter-over-mapping of Palestine."--Diversophy.com 

Introduction: Maps Work. Part 1. Mapping. 1. Maps Blossom in the Springtime of the State. 2. Unleashing the Power of the Map. 3. Signs in the Service of the State. 4. Making Signs Talk to Each Other. Part 2. Counter-Mapping. 5. Counter-Mapping and the Death of Cartography. 6. Talking Back to the Map. 7. Map Art: Stripping the Mask from the Map. 8. Mapmaking, Counter-Mapping, and Map Art in the Mapping of Palestine.