How interactive maps mobilize people in geoactivism

Abstract

Thus far little has been said about how maps are employed in activism to unleash sentiments. Employing as a lens the emotional turn currently influencing geography, this article looks at a 15M map, a cartographic animation that shows a ‘connected multitude’ of indignad@s as they demonstrated in Spain in 2011; the ‘Left-to-die boat’ map, tracing the course of a ship in which 63 refugees lost their lives; and the ‘Western Africa missing fish’ map, which shows foreign fishing vessels operating irregularly in African waters. Interviews, fieldwork, and participatory observation are employed to understand how maps are designed to activate people through emotions. Based on DeSoto (2014) and Muehlenhaus (2013), the chapter also offers a taxonomy as a heuristic tool.