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The geographer Bernard Nietschmann famously pointed out that more indigenous territory has been claimed by maps than by guns. Since the beginning of colonialism, maps have encouraged the world to view the Amazon rainforest through the eyes of its European settlers, not its original inhabitants. But, as Nietschmann wrote, his assertion “has its corollary: more indigenous territory can be reclaimed and defended by maps than by guns”. In modern Brazil, Amazonian forest people are doing just that: producing alternative, “counter-maps” that recognise their claims to land which had been earmarked for mining or dams. James Angus Fraser explains the importance of counter-mapping the Amazon.
Since its beginnings, academic research has been designed and used as a tool of the colonial project, argues Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Data has served to control native populations while European re-search methods have dictated the limits of what it means to know and understand the world and discover knowledge.
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“The earth is our mother. We should look after and respect her. This territory is where the peccary passed. Under the authority of Karodaybi [the first Munduruku warrior]
Mauricio Torres
James Angus Fraser, Lancaster University
They are contesting the maps that deny them territorial rights.
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Politics + Society
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Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni, University of South Africa
The process of decolonising research methodology is an ethical, ontological and political exercise rather than simply one of approach and ways of producing knowledge.
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Lauren Lluveras, University of Texas at Austin
Hurricane Maria has left 3.4 million Puerto Ricans facing shortages of food, health care and transit, an American humanitarian crisis fueled by the US territory's May 2017 bankruptcy.
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Aulia Nastiti, Northwestern University
Using technology and rhetoric, ride-hailing companies manage to dictate drivers while simultaneously creating the illusion of equal relation.
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Keith Rathbone, Macquarie University
Donald Trump’s ill-timed comments on protests by America's elite athletes have given legitimacy to claims of his racial animus.
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Z. Fareen Parvez, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Muslim women in India struggle with a host of challenges, such as widespread poverty and lack of access to education. Arbitrary divorce was only one of many injustices.
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Dr Thompson Chengeta, University of Pretoria
While Kenya's political leaders often adopt a populist approach to politics, it's not unimaginable that the courts could also pursue a populist path by claiming to speak for the people.
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Science + Technology
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Novi Kurnia, Universitas Gadjah Mada ; Santi Indra Astuti, Universitas Islam Bandung
Dozens of voluntary researchers in nine Indonesian cities mapped digital literacy activities and they found the country needs much more to solve their digital media problems.
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