Cartography allows us to observe social phenomena through different spatial and analytical scales. In that sense, we can infer that cartography refers to the way in which spaces and people or groups relate to each other. As such, we propose to reflect on cartography as a way of producing relational knowledge. For this, the theoretical and methodological debate will focus on the influences and overlaps between cartography, memory, space and time. We will discuss the potentialities and limitations of cartography, in a way that seeks to represent, allude, and manifest those flows, emotions, potencies and senses that often exceed (usually visual) representations.
We seek to reflect on these themes through a participatory working group in which the co-conveners won’t be only ones presenting their research and reflections; but instead form a learning circle where participants will also contribute with their experiences and questions. We want to address cartography as an epistemology and methodology of marking space in relation to mobility due to forced displacement, religious pilgrimages, and quotidian collective or individual trajectories.
For these purposes, we have delineated three initial points of conversation:
- Starting from a mutual interpellation between people and spaces, we shall open the discussion by asking whether space has agency or if this is exclusive to humans.
- Representational cartography. We propose to locate in a Cartesian plane the movements and convergences between space and social actor.
- Other cartographies. Knowledges from other disciplines, epistemologies, and experiences.