From GIS to Web Maps - Participatory Mapping: New Data, New Cartography - page 27

toward a critical study of cartography based on French
post-structuralist theorists, mainly Jacques Derrida
[HAR 89] and Michel Foucault [HAR 90]. The critical model
he established aimed to “deconstruct” maps by highlighting
their power dimension. So Harley differentiated the external
from the internal power of the map. The first refers to both
the power on cartography, through the influence of the
production context and of the patron on the cartographer,
and the power with the map, describing the usage of the map
by States to manage and control their territory and
populations. As to the internal power of maps, it indicates
the possibility of cartographers to control “the knowledge of
the world made available to people in general” [HAR 89,
p.13]. The cartographer controls what is included in a map,
which makes this arbitrary choice appear “natural”

[WOO 86].

After World War II, the field of cartography drew from
emerging information and communication theories. It was
first inspired by the transmission model which was prevalent
at the time, and sought to improve map communication by
reducing “noise” during the transmission of information.
From the questioning of the MCM, both approaches evolved
to look at maps in different contexts, with the scientific
perspective on one side and the critical perspective on the
other. A merging of the two interpretations of maps is not
likely to happen [PER 03].

2.2. The rise of the notion of participation within
maps

GIS technology was developed alongside these debates. It
became increasingly important in the 1980s as a technology
for geographical representation. However, several criticisms
arose against a vision of maps deemed positivist and
technical. Including cartographic contributions of the public