Queering Geographic Information Systems

Abstract:
What’s the relationship between GIS and the political subject? In an effort to address this question, this paper traces the movement from the map to GIS. The map is shown to be the performative utterance of the state, one that supports its national discourse and narrative. GIS, on the other hand, is shown to be a device of neoliberal governmentality, its non-representational economic practices, divided discourse and subjectivities. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation surrounding GIS, however, certain simulation and modelling practices are attempting to construct subjectivities out of economic neoliberalism’s fractured narratives. They do this by reading meaning into otherwise mathematical datasets and models. These practices could form a basis for queering GIS.

This article is developed through research carried out as part of the Machine Feeling project funded by both Cambridge University’s Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (hereafter CRASSH) and Aarhus University. The paper began as a presentation at a workshop based at CRASSH which resulted in a shorted publication entitled Digital Modelling. It was then developed into a larger piece and delivered at Transmediale Festival 2019. Proceedings from both events were then compiled into a special issue of the Transmediale journal ARPJA. The festival, which is due to celebrate its 30th anniversary next year, and journal have wide appeal in digital media circles, especially through social and online media. The special issue includes articles by artists, designers and other academics based in the social sciences and the humanities from Europe, the US and the UK.