A piece by Leila Harris was published in the most recent Special Issue of the journal Cartographica on “Deconstructing the Map”: 25 Years On.
This special issue marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of J.B. Harley’s “Deconstructing the Map” (1989), which has had a major influence in the fields of critical cartography, the history of cartography, and human geography more generally. Over the last quarter century, this essay and related works have also been widely cited by scholars from a broad range of disciplines across the social sciences and humanities, serving as a key reference for those seeking to theorize the spatial politics of maps and mapping. Through such citational practices, “Deconstructing the Map” has acquired a canonical status as one of the classics of critical cartographic theory, yet the limitations of its theoretical and methodological analyses are widely acknowledged even by Harley’s strongest supporters. The contributors to this special issue discuss their own critical engagements with this foundational text as well as the extent to which Harley’s work still resonates with contemporary perspectives in the field of critical cartography today. The broader aim of this collection is therefore not to further canonize Harley as the patron saint of critical cartography but rather to think through the limits of “Deconstructing the Map” to ensure that current and future theorizations of the power of mapping remain open to self-critique and new becomings.
Harris, L. (2015) Deconstructing the Map after 25 Years: Furthering Engagements with Social Theory. Cartographica 50(1): 50-53.
Other titles include:
Cartography and Its Discontents
Matthew H. Edney
This Is Not about Old Maps
Denis Wood
“Snapshots of a Moving Target”: Harley/Foucault/Colonialism
Daniel Clayton
Reflections on J.B. Harley’s “Deconstructing the Map”
John Krygier
Harley and Friday Harbor: A Conversation with John Pickles
Jeremy Crampton and Matthew W. Wilson
Reflecting on J.B. Harley’s Influence and What He Missed in “Deconstructing the Map”
Martin Dodge and Chris Perkins
Tracing the Map in the Age of Web 2.0
Wen Lin
Still Deconstructing the Map: Microfinance Mapping and the Visual Politics of Intimate Abstraction
Sarah Elwood
Deconstructing the Map after 25 Years: Furthering Engagements with Social Theory
Leila M. Harris
Looking “Beyond” Power? J.B. Harley’s Legacy and the Powers of Cartographic World-Making
