The evolution of Agnostic Cartography

1. When poli*cs
meets maps
there is no right
The evolu*on of Agnos*c
Cartography
h9p://bigthink.com/ideas/21192

2. Plagiarism alert
You should read
Google’s World: The Impact of “Agnos*c
Cartographers” on the State-Dominated
Interna*onal Legal System by Ethan Merel
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/lsuchick142/7174038140

3. Has the transi*on from
paper to digital maps
changed the way that
cartographers represent
poli*cal boundary disputes?

4. Poli*cs and Cartography
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/glynlowe/6486627249
"Put simply, maps which depict legal
borders are never objec*ve, at least not
in the independently verifiable, scien*fic
use of the word." (Merel)

5. Poli*cal Geography is
asser*on not physical
observa*on
Borders are man made, not
engraved on the ground in
perpetuity
Borders change
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/thegforcers/8396110846

6. Borders on paper maps
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/apelad/13302823524

7. Look no
borders 1535

8. S*ll no borders - 1569

9. Early borders 1807

10. An early border dispute
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/mypubliclands/9406947868

11. Mont Blanc 1832

12. Mont Blanc (French)1865

13. Mont Blanc (Italy) 1869 18321865
1869

14. Persian or Arabian Gulf?
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/9449642223

15. Persian Gulf 43

16. Persian Gulf 1548

17. Arabian Sea ca 1600

18. Arabian Sea ca 1700

19. Persian Gulf 1740

20. Arabian Gulf ca 1948-67

21. Alterna*ve reali*es can co-
exist on paper

22. The Interna*onal Map of the
World

23. Digital Chart of the World
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/stepaganini2/5621450410

24. The First Google Maps War
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/apelad/3869243973

25. Agnos*c Cartography
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/jhritz/409083204

26. Google’s dispute resolu*on
methodology
The view of geographically relevant states
The view of interna*onally authorita*ve bodies
Primary Local Usage
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/miikas/140407410

27. Mul*ple versions of the
digital truth
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/peaceful-jp-scenery/15495578494

28. 28

29. Incorrect
maps are
worse than
drugs or
counterfeit
currency

30. Kashmir viewed from India

31. Kashmir viewed from outside of India

32. Arunachal Pradesh viewed from India

33. Arunachal Pradesh viewed from outside India

34. Crimea
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/grob7906/16248155805

35. Crimea from Russia

36. Crimea for Ukraine

37. Guyana: Spanish or English?

38. Guyana - OSM & Google
Main Road
Essequibo Coast
Public Road

39. OSM Dispute Methodology
On the ground rule
Direct observa*ons of:
Signage
What people call places
Not on the basis of government declara*ons
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/anantns/6765139575

40. Jerusalem

41. OSM Jerusalem Name Dispute
Edit war changing the “name” tag
DWG decided the node would not have a name
tag un*l all par*es could agree
Specialist maps can render one of the language
tags
Request to not re-add a name tag or create a
new city node un*l there is agreement
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/almos*nfamous/2734993657/

42. What has changed?
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/familymwr/4928087969

43. States s*ll seek to impose
their ‘truth’ on mapmakers
But new Agnos*c
Cartographers make
alterna*ve views available to
a global audience
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/funcrush/7991844351

44. Agnos*c Cartographers
endeavour to apply process
to the resolu*on of border
and naming disputes
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/mibby23/11971530395

45. Changing poli*cal reali*es
are represented in online
maps almost instantly
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/d6478coke/3874771678

46. 200 disputes to resolve
today. We are going to be
talking about this for a while!
h9ps://www.flickr.com/photos/isfullofcrap/25611687444

47. That’s it!
www.knowhwere.co.uk
Slides at bit.ly/PolMapDeck
Notes at bit.ly/PolMapNotes