Hind, Sam and Lammes, Sybille (2016) Digital mapping as double-tap : cartographic modes, calculations and failures. Global Discourse : an interdisciplinary journal of current affairs and applied contemporary thought, 6 (1-2). pp. 79-97. doi:10.1080/23269995.2015.1019732 ISSN 2326-9995.

Preview

PDF WRAP_Lammes_23269995%2E2015%2E1019732.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (333Kb) | Preview

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

In this article, we will ask how Latour’s latest project – An Inquiry into Modes of Existence (AIME) – can help us to understand the nature of cartographic modes, calculations and failures. To this end, we will argue that in his many readings, specifically digital mapping can be said to operate through a ‘double-click’ mode which obscures the [REF–REP] crossing of which he now speaks of in AIME. More appropriately, we refine Latour’s argument to suggest that contemporary navigational practice involves not simply a ‘double-click’ mentality but a ‘double-tap’ one. This action enables the user to not only zoom into the mapping interface – by virtue of a double-tap of a touch-sensitive screen – but also manipulate phenomena in mobile and haptic terms, as if the world was both accessible and knowable through the fingertips. This small tweak in terminology strengthens Latour’s account of prevailing modern thinking, to allow for an even more robust analysis to take place. However, Latour is not the first to think in terms of ‘modes’. Critical cartographers, for instance, have talked of so-called ‘mapping modes’. Latour’s ontological pluralism, together with these other cartographic and methodological versions, can help us to identify different operative elements in various digital mapping enterprises. We further argue that there is still considerable value in employing Latour’s long-theorized notions of immutable mobility, inscription and calculation, so long as they are updated and refined for contemporary practices, and the various bridging strategies mentioned above are implemented and taken into consideration. In returning to our initial point, we then argue that there are moments in which this double-tap philosophy is laid bare and the seamless linking of the [REF] and [REP] modes of existence unravel. Taking on and extending Latour’s interest in ‘failure’, we argue that the best way to challenge double-tap thinking, in a methodological sense, is to focus on the nuanced nature of digital mapping failures since these are instances that mapping no longer works ‘without a hitch’. In such moments, the aura of unmediated technological practice slips. Instead, the bare operational bones are exposed, allowing the user to gain access to its failed state. We substantiate this final argument with reference to two cartographic cases concerning a flood event and a series of protest demonstrations.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General) H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Digital mapping, Touch screens
Journal or Publication Title:	Global Discourse : an interdisciplinary journal of current affairs and applied contemporary thought
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
ISSN:	2326-9995
Official Date:	2016
Dates:	Date Event 2016 Published 10 March 2015 Available
Volume:	6
Number:	1-2
Number of Pages:	19
Page Range:	pp. 79-97
DOI:	10.1080/23269995.2015.1019732
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)
Date of first compliant deposit:	15 October 2018
Date of first compliant Open Access:	15 October 2018
Funder:	European Research Council (ERC), Seventh Framework Programme (European Commission) (FP7)
Grant number:	283464 (ERC)
Open Access Version:	Publisher

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads