Free the Map

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A map is a visual story that shapes the way we see the world. A standard atlas, however, predominantly tells one story, that of the nation-state. It presents a world where people are uniformly contained within national borders: 'us here, them there'. Tellingly, migration is often depicted as threatening arrows: the language of a hostile invasion. How does this dominant way of mapping the world inform our understanding of borders and migration? 

Borders and migration professor Henk van Houtum will discuss the implications of this state-centric cartography. In his recently published book Free the Map. From Atlas to Hermes. A new cartography of borders and migration, he makes a plea to free the map from this territorial trap. How can we incorporate human experiences, mobility, and connections to humanise the map? What alternative cartographic representations of borders and migration will be possible?

This lecture will be followed by an aftertalk with Daphne Brandenburg, Joram Tarusarira and Marijke Leliveld to conclude the series ‘Getting a Grip on Migration’.

Henk van Houtum is Professor of Geopolitics and Political Geography at Radboud University Nijmegen. He writes and teaches on the cartography and geopolitics of borders, bordering, and migration. Recent works include: Free the Map. From Atlas to Hermes. A new cartography of borders and migration (2024) and Borderland. Atlas, essays and design. History and future of the border landscape (2013), published together with Mark Eker.