Decolonizing the Map
Cartography from Colony to Nation
Almost universally, newly independent states seek to affirm their independence and identity by making the production of new maps and atlases a top priority. For formerly colonized peoples, however, this process neither begins nor ends with independence, and it is rarely straightforward. Mapping their own land is fraught with a fresh set of issues: how to define and administer their territories, develop their national identity, establish their role in the community of nations, and more. The contributors to "Decolonizing the Map" explore this complicated relationship between mapping and decolonization while engaging with recent theoretical debates about the nature of decolonization itself. These essays, originally delivered as the 2010 Kenneth Nebenzahl, Jr., Lectures in the History of Cartography at the Newberry Library, encompass more than two centuries and three continents – Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Ranging from the late eighteenth century through the mid-twentieth, contributors study topics from mapping and national identity in late colonial Mexico to the enduring complications created by the partition of British India and the racialized organization of space in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. A vital contribution to studies of both colonization and cartography, "Decolonizing the Map" is the first book to systematically and comprehensively examine the engagement of mapping in the long – and clearly unfinished – parallel processes of decolonization and nation building in the modern world.
About the Author
James R. Akerman is Curator of Maps at the Newberry Library and director of the library's Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography. He is editor of "Cartographies of Travel and Navigationand The Imperial Map", and co-editor of "Maps: Finding Our Place in the World", all published by the University of Chicago Press.
Reviews
"Excellent scholarship permeates every chapter of 'Decolonizing the Map'. The essays collected here by Akerman are subtle, tightly argued, and carefully crafted; the standard of analysis and exposition is uniformly high. This fascinating volume will be widely read and enthusiastically received by a readership spanning political history, historical geography, and, of course, the history of cartography" – Michael Heffernan, University of Nottingham
"'Decolonizing the Map' examines how maps were used before and after independence movements to establish new nations that emerged in the lengthy decolonization process. In different contexts, the contributors reveal not only how maps served as a basis for the construction of those nations but also how they were reflections of those recently emerged entities, condensing all the characteristics and contradictions of each process. This book is a pioneering intellectual enterprise – a highly recommended and welcome contribution to the field" – Junia Furtado, Federal University of Minas Gerais
