The Discourse and Discipline of GIS

Bibliographic Data

ID14701146
AuthorsKevin St Martins (0000-0003-3775-1601, 1Department of Geography / Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey / Piscataway / NJ / USA, 2Department of History / University of Minnesota / Minneapolis / MN / USA, corresponding author), Kevin St Martin, John Wing (1Department of Geography / Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey / Piscataway / NJ / USA, 2Department of History / University of Minnesota / Minneapolis / MN / USA)
Year2007
Volume42
Issue3
Pages235-248
Publication date2007-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCartographica The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0317-7173 • E-ISSN: 1911-9925
PublisherUniversity of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3138/carto.42.3.235
OpenAlexW2061537200
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited54

Despite the many alternative insights produced within human geography since the height of the spatial science tradition of the 1960s and those within geographic information systems (GIS) itself, we still observe in our classrooms, hiring committees, and textbooks a dominant and singular understanding of GIS that fixes its meaning in ways that marginalize “non-GIS” geography. We are concerned about the effect that this valuation of GIS and devaluation of its others might have on the discipline of geography. In what follows, we report on our examination of the dominant discourse of GIS across a variety of sites in numerous academic, commercial, and educational sources where we found it to be repeatedly performed in ways that give particular meaning and power to “GIS.” We identify four characteristics attributed to GIS by and through this widespread discourse. We then discuss the effect of this discourse and, in particular, what it might mean to the discipline of geography. Finally, we suggest an exploration of “heterodox GIS” as a discursive strategy that we should deploy in our classrooms, departments, and beyond, as well as a political project aimed at destabilizing a singular and orthodox GIS. Such strategies should not strive to undermine or negate GIS but, rather, should aim to negate the notion that GIS is a single thing, linearly progressing, inherently expanding, and universally applicable

Cartography · Discipline · Epistemology · Geographic information system · Geography · GIS and public health · GIS Day · Human geography · Meaning (existential · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Traditional knowledge GIS · Valuation (finance · Variety (cybernetics · Computer Science · Geographic Information Systems Studies · Geography Education and Pedagogy · Historical Geography and Geographical Thought · Law

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