Alcorn—Mapping a Process for Change

“community-based mapping isn’t ‘action research’, it is political action” (p.16).

Janis Alcorn in “Borders, Rules and Governance: Mapping to catalyse changes in policy and management” illustrates that mapmaking and maps have the power for social change—if you do it right. Community mapping can be abused as only an idea by researchers, NGO’s and consultants utilized in project proposals and reports. But Alcorn says the “real power of the approach is unleashed when the process is led by the community” (p.16). When this occurs there can be several benefits to a community, including increased cohesion, increased democracy, intra-community cooperation, and most importantly local control over land-use and resource exploitation. Several examples are given that depict how maps can influence or strengthen these things. In particular, how they can be used to negotiate with national governments that operate “outside” of local people’s interests.

Alcorn discusses community-mapping projects in Indonesia, Brazil and Philippines to demonstrate how communities can us maps to actively negotiate rights. Alcorn draws on these examples to outline steps for success in the mapping process to activate change. Emphasized in the process is that the mapmaker act as a facilitator and community members the decision-makers. At the same time, a strategic plan that provides room for continual evaluation of the process is key. Alcorn asks as the initial stage, “what is the political costs and benefits of mapping…”(p.9). Following a series of questions, this initial phase is focused on teasing out issues that may arise, and foreseeing potential conflicts with the map, before any work is done. Another step discussed is choosing from a range of technologies, recommending being open to different technologies that fit the initial goals and target audience of the map. Technologies reviewed include, sketch maps, 3D models and GIS. These different technologies may all be used to bring different information into the process, however, for communication to governments, computer generated cartographic representations tend to have the most impact.

Alcorn’s article lays out a process for engaging in community mapping for social change, emphasizing the benefits and the potential for it to go wrong. The article lays out a clear direction for practitioners including addressing issues around mapping strategies to reduce potential conflicts. She bring in several points that were addressed in Jeff Fox’s paper, including the point that many Indigenous communities like it or not, must in engage in mapping their territories or risk losing all control of their lands. Concerns with the appropriateness’ of technologies such as GIS, come to light as communities are forced to document their cultural values, in a particular way that is not necessarily conducive to their ways of knowing. Therefore, the mapping process may force communities to re-shape their knowledge to protect the very thing they seek to conserve through the map.

Conflict: Jeff Fox Maps the Commons

“…while maps can be an empowering tool, helping a local community define itself in relationship to the landscape and to the political forces that shape and influence it, maps can also be used to disinherit them” (p.4).

Jeff Fox, in his article “Mapping the Commons” explores the duality of mapping to empower people. In particular, he draws on examples of Indigenous mapping projects that seek to give cartographic power to communities. The tools of spatial information technologies, in all its various forms, can help solve land-use conflicts and boundary disputes. However, Fox illustrates there is several issues with cartographic representation within different cultural contexts.

Fox asserts that by utilizing the cartographic technologies to gain power, Indigenous people, are “telling alternative spatial stories” (p.3). However, they are trying to capture their own knowledge within a western knowledge framework. Fox discusses a fundamental aspect of western mapping--the four directions. He points to how various cultural groups do not recognize these four directions, such as the Zuni people and the Inuit who have radically different directional systems. How can western style mapping depict richly different and complex cultures? One proposal is to increase the practice of mapping with other methods in research such as participant observation that may capture the cultural and symbolic spaces that are difficult to depict.
Other issues arise in land-use mapping, where mind maps of traditional societies are transformed to paper maps, defining borders, and thus specific land rights between villages. In the communities discussed, the customary system of land representation was “fluid” which allowed for flexible interpretations of boundaries. The flexible boundaries in the peoples mind maps provided minimal conflict; the paper maps created new conflicts, and as a result in some examples resource managers, stopped the practice of mapping boundaries.
Fox concluded his review with the idea that is it a fine line between cartographies and research practices that simply reproduce power relationships, and one that works to break these down. So far, cartography has not found any definitive solutions. In this article a common end is drawn on by Fox with wisdom from Nancy Peluso that Indigenous people have to participate in mapping or they will quite literally be left off the map. Now how is that for empowerment! I will sum up with the old saying--can’t live [justly] with, can’t live [justly] without.

Facebook draws a growing crop of farmers

Many in the ag industry are using Twitter and blogs to communicate, educate.
Published online on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009
By Robert Rodriguez / The Fresno Bee

With a hand-held video camera, a computer and 800 cows, Barbara Martin of Lemoore is letting the world into her life as a dairy operator.

No, it's not a new reality television show. And Martin isn't craving her 15 minutes of fame.

But she is joining a growing number of farmers and others in agriculture who are using social media tools to communicate with each other, send out information and educate the public about agriculture.

Dairy operators have become especially skilled at launching Facebook pages, blog posting and using Twitter, a microblogging site.

Martin uses all three to tell the public about the family's 800-cow dairy. She launched her blog, "A Dairy Goddess's Blog," in late August.

When Barbara Martin shoots a video for her blog where she is known as Dairy Goddess, she just goes out and finds her favorite cow, Chica, holds the camera and narrates what is on her mind. She uses social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook to connect with dairy people across the U.S.

For Martin, using social media and blogging is a way to dispel some myths about farmers and encourage a greater understanding of the slumping dairy industry.

She's blogged about everything from fixing the pricing structure for milk to sharing her childhood memories about growing up on a farm. Her most recent post is a video diary about her heifer Chica.

Martin and other dairy operators say their critics such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have used the Internet's power to portray them as cruel, greedy and corporate.

PETA has posted videos on its Web site showing animals being neglected on a Pennsylvania dairy.

"I want people to know about the people and families who run dairies in this country," said Martin, a third-generation dairy operator. "This is not a factory farm. We are a family who cares about their animals, and I want to show that."

Cindy Zimmerman, who co-owns a Missouri-based new media company with her husband, Chuck, said much of what's driving farmers to use Twitter, Facebook and even YouTube is the desire to raise the public's awareness about agriculture.

She said many consumers still don't understand the role farming plays in the economy and the challenges farmers face, including weather, pests and low prices.

"These new tools have become a way for the individual farmer to get their story out to the public," Zimmerman said. "And for some, this has become a way to connect with people that they never would have been able to do before."

Although it may be too early to tell whether Twittering farmers are changing public opinion, the effort to use social media shows no signs of slowing.

Among those who use social media is motivational speaker and new-media adviser Michele Payn-Knoper.

More than 2,000 people follow her posts on Twitter.

Payn-Knoper of Indiana hosts a session on Twitter called AgChat every Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m., and she averages 100 to 200 participants. She's had as many as 500 people participating.

"Social media has become such an incredible information platform for farmers and agriculture," Payn-Knoper said. "And many are seizing that opportunity."

Payn-Knoper said more dairy operators are joining Twitter and Facebook largely because the industry has sponsored seminars on the topic. Other agricultural industries have been slower to latch onto the new technology.

Bob McKellar of Ivanhoe is a newcomer to Twitter. McKellar's Family Farm Fresh uses the site to promote its community-supported agriculture operation.

The farm delivers fresh fruits and vegetables to people who sign up and subscribe. Its Twitter site updates customers with the latest offerings or asks people whether they prefer plums soft or crunchy.

McKellar, a farmer for more than 30 years, admits he doesn't know how to use Twitter, but he fully understands its potential. One of his employees does the Twitter posts.

"I have a computer and a cell phone, and to be honest with you I know very little about either one of them," McKellar said. "But what I do know is that these new ways can help reach people like we haven't been able to do before."

University of California cooperative extension specialist Matthew Fidelibus uses Twitter and Facebook to share his research on grapes with farmers.

State budget cuts have made it tougher for some UC farm advisers to reach growers through field meetings or personal visits to farms. To reach more farmers, Fidelibus has posted Twitter updates on how to deal with a recurring problem of powdery mildew, a fungal disease common among vineyards.

And while Fidelibus has become a regular on Twitter, his raisin farmer clients haven't quite caught up.

"The demographic of the raisin farmers we deal with is skewed more toward older growers, so we are not sure if they use this sort of technology or not," Fidelibus said. "But if we can dispel some of the myths about using Facebook and Twitter, then the potential to reach people could be huge."

Harley's Ethical Dilemmas

“Maps should continue to reflect the values of society at large, as their history has shown us they have always done” (p.18).

JB Harley (1989) outlines some of the underlying ethical dilemmas in the discipline of cartography during his time. The discourse emphasizes the neglect of cartographers to engage in social discourse around map-making, and the content of the maps. He sees a “divorce” between the social and the technical aspects of cartography as underling the “crisis of representation”. In general, he characterizes cartographers as “passive reactors” rather than “active initiators”. This is because they rarely engage in the political process, but focus in on the technical aspects of mapmaking.

Society and the value norms of the time-period are reflected on the map, as they are in the history books, and the architecture. On a map this is represented through the place names. Harley, gives examples, of how place names reflect societal values, from the derogatory, racially charged names given to places such as Niggerhead mountain, to the renaming of locations in later times. Names simple published on a map gives them authority, Harley points out. On the other side, he discusses “restoring the map” for instance when the names are replaced by Indigenous pre-colonial place names (p.4). However, he reflects on what happens when the map changes, and those racist names are removed, like a history book being rewritten, he states “In seeking to destroy the past, we are in danger of destroying a witness to the roots of a racial bigotry that still divides our society” (p.15).

Harley argues for the redemption of the topographic map, claiming that it is more democratic—thus it holds higher ground than its counter-parts. In part this because it is published, on paper, and leaves little mystery to the data behind it. In comparison, geographic information systems (GIS) are non-maps, until the visual is presented, critiquing the movement of cartographers focus on GIS. The other concern he raises is the trend towards thematic maps, which represent specific kinds of information, and are ultimately—he argues—reductionist. In contrast the topographical map, is a whole “integrated picture” that has the ability to represent social, cultural and environmental artifacts.

Harley presents several interrelated arguments that relate all back to the same theme-- cartographers do not engage in ethical dilemmas enough. In his many examples of how values of society can be born, shaped and reflected through maps, he is trying to convince the cartographer to listen, watch and act. Maps are texts, as texts they allow for moral reflection.

Counter-Mapping or Counter Culture (Peluso,N.)

“Mapping gives local people the power…” (p. 403)

Nancy Peluso in her article “Whose Woods are These? Counter-Mapping Forest Territories in Kalimantan, Indonesia ” described efforts by localized NGO’s and International organizations to map out Indigenous land-use. The central concept for these mapping projects in Indonesian forestlands were to respond to maps drawn by the governments that left local peoples management and customary title off the map. Instead the government maps, threatened exploitation of forestlands. How these maps, worked to both give local people a voice in government and shift traditional ways of communicating for Indigenous people are examined.
Peluso states “mapping of forests is a political act” (p. 383). In this, she describes its history with origins in Europe, and than extending to the “New World” colonies of North Amercia, Australia and New Zealand. Here, mapping forests was used to delineate property and break-up communal areas, in the name of taking control of the resources that lie within. In the literature, little attention (at the time of this article) had been given to third world cases. However, the same control over land, and mapping out of resources was taking place.

Drawing from these experiences of history, Peluso suggests that if maps are sources of power for the powerful—as traditionally they have been—than if local groups appropriate that source of power than they can offset the “monopoly of authoritative resources”. The key point is to re-insert people onto resource maps, and put forward that maps can pose alternatives, becoming a means for empowerment. In Indonesia, maps by government left people and their claims to resources off the map, leaving there traditional lands vulnerable to drastic changes that would leave them with little to survive on as a culture and as people.

Through her example of two mapping projects she highlights some positive and problematic issues around counter-mapping. A vital outcome of mapping by local people, is if the counter-map has the chance to be properly given recognition by government. If the government gives it legitimate power than it can be used to negotiate, for different land use strategies. To increase chances, Peluso suggests that mimicking the style and technology of government maps is important. This requires outside experts, and in the two case studies presented, the use of advanced mapping technology was enabled by the International organizations. At the same time the international organization also had Intergovernmental political ties, and power in the global arena of bringing acknowledgment to the project. However, local people were reliant on the hope that the International NGO would listen to local people (as local NGO’s do), and properly take them into account in addition to conserving their lands. On the other hand, Peluso points out that mapping has the potential to impact the culture’s it is trying to empower, through creating stagnant cultural artifacts, that provide little space for the dynamic nature of cultural processes. But, Peluso emphasizes that really there is little choice for local people but to participate in mapping, if they want to be recognized.

If people are forced to map as Peluso concludes, counter-maps may also disempower as they are enforced to translate cultural significances into a foreign communication method. At the same time, people must rely on experts to help in the mapping process, which may or may not translate the needs of local people’s properly onto a map, hence the case of the International NGO. The process can be fraught with difficulty, as it does not recognize the autonomy of a people's ways of being. Therefore, even with counter-mapping power is not transferred from government to the local people, but something that is negotiated, possibly at the expense of cultural dignity.

Monmonier ‘s Lying with Maps

“…maps lie in diverse ways” (p.216).

Mark Monmonier (2005) draws on Darrell Huff’s book “How to Lie with Statistics” to show that maps are an example of the distortions highlighted by Huff with statistics. Specifically in this article he looks at how a maps scale effects feature selection and geometry, the power of data classification and how symbolization can augment the information presented on the maps. Monmonier, recognizes the difference between statistics and maps. Maps at best are “massive reductions of the reality they represent” (p.215). He points out that if a map truly tried to epitomize everything, the map would be to perplexing to be properly understood. However, that in the process of mapmaking it is up to the cartographer to select relevant information and depict it in a way that is truthful. In addition, the user-friendly mapping software can generate increasingly less scrutinized maps.

The scale needs to be matched with appropriate symbols, sounds simple, but as Monmonier points out, when you mix a scale bar with a more generalized small-scale map, it “invites grossly inaccurate estimates”. Another example, is cut-points, where a software default allocation of cut-points may make no sense to the actual data, although it may look convincing to the untrained eye. One example is statistical averages by state where varying cut-points can drastically change the message. In addition, the statistics can be manipulated greatly using the same data, but different re-organizations of the numbers can show drastic differences, making the map vulnerable to special interest groups. The third example that he discusses is bivariate correlation where pairs of chloropleth maps can falsely show bivariate correlation with only simple manipulation.

In conclusion, what Monmonier, is really trying to get at is that by doing something wrong in the depiction of the data, the mapmaker can overtly lead the user to misleading interpretations, and ultimately bad decisions. This is made simpler with software that relies less on knowing the data, and more on generating fancy maps. The software gives the mapmaker the tools to easily show seemingly powerful images with a few keystrokes, but that these images may lie. In the hopes of explaining himself for the title, Monmonier states that mostly it is not lies in the maps but “inadvertent fabrication” (222). Oh yes, I think we would all like to call it that.

Development Maps (Monmonier)

“…maps are anybody’s weapon…” (p.81)

Monmonier in this chapter on “Development Maps” depicts the role that maps play in shaping the planning process in municipalities. In particular, the focus is on how maps are a “tool of persuasion” for specific interests groups such as developers. It also points to the resource split in communities around map-making, as a community group concerned about the developer’s proposals, may not have the financial resources to present a opposing map and if they do it may not be as sophisticated as the developers, impacting the ability to communicate on equal ground.
Different types of maps are highlighted in the chapter, that are used by municipal planners to make decisions on land-use including three main types zoning, a master plan, and an official map. In addition maps of ecosystems, soil and other natural features can be brought in through environmental assessments for projects. The process of utilizing these different levels of maps is put forward to make sound decisions around land-use in communities. However, maps do not always represent adequately what is on the ground or what is actually in the development plan.
To illustrate this, Monmonier lays out eleven rules for developers to follow in order to manipulate or “polish” the maps and in turn the process of decision-making. These somewhat satiric rules, demonstrate how easy it is for interest groups to present information in a seemingly truthful format, a map. Hence the rule “generalize creatively” provides advice on how to enhance what you want to emphasize and diminish features to persuade the community. Another interesting rule is to add mundane details such as lots of tree stamps to the maps. This small act can drastically change the impression of the map, which is demonstrated in Figure 6.4. The article further explores the tax assessment process, as way to illustrate the review process, drawing on maps that specifically emphasize the points to be made. Such as drawing of houses that are over taxed, on a cadastral style map, that shows it much larger relative to tax assessments in the neighborhoods. This kind of map is a kind of a propaganda-cadastral map that provides a visual appeal to the decision-makers.
The discussion and examples within this article, provides an example of how maps can be shaped towards the interests of the mapmakers. Although the examples are hypothetical and at times slightly mocking the municipal process’s it shows how maps, can be taken for truth just because they are maps, not matter how easily manipulated, and this acceptance can drastically impact what does happen in reality, hence the quote “…maps are anybody’s weapon…” (p.81).