Introduction as an appetizer

On saturday we will celebrate the release of This Is Not an Atlas. As an appetizer here our Introduction with the Editorial – This Is Not an Atlas by Severin Halder and Boris Michel from Berlin as well as Counter-Cartographies – The Insurrection of Maps by André Mesquita from São Paulo. (In a few weeks you will be able to download the full E-Book for free, here on notanatlas.org.)

This chapter introduces the basic idea of This Is Not an Atlas and its history. It explains why the publication starts with a love-hate relation to maps and atlases. It also shows how critical cartography can be a starting point for both, criticizing the power of maps as well as actively engaging in mapping and making critical maps. This chapter positions the atlas in relation to activism, art and academia and sketches out the other chapters one by one. It proposes how maps and mapping can be seen and used as tools for action, to tie networks, to create political pressure or to create visibility for marginalized groups. Maps are thus instruments to criticize, educate, show spatial subjectivities and support self-reflection.