I thus fully agree with Rossetto and Lo Presti about the need to expand the repertoire of the critical literature on national cartography to offer what one could call, in keeping with Sedgwick's terms, some form of reparative reading.įor Rossetto and Lo Presti, post-representational and (post)phenomenological theories offer a promising starting point to develop an alternative study of ‘the nexus maps and nationhood’, bringing together processual understandings of maps ( Gerlach, 2013 Kitchin et al., 2013 Rossetto, 2015) and analyses of everyday nationalism ( Antonsich, 2016 Fox and Miller-Idriss, 2008). Cartography's hidden agendas ( Harley, 1989) have become an open secret and, more often than not, deconstructing the map reveals little that we did not know before (see also Rose-Redwood, 2015). The issue here is not that this notion is mistaken but, rather, that it is plausibly (but not definitely) true of virtually any map of any nation at any time. The display of scepticism, or even disdain, towards national maps is a basic component of the supposedly enlightened scholar's toolkit. Since the early 1990s, the notion that maps are tools of power used to reify territorial boundaries and reinforce exclusionary national identities has been the metaplot 1 of critical cartography, a motif that runs through countless articles in this field, as well as opinion pieces and social media threads. What if maps were understood as ‘unpredictable objects or events, able to express cultural forms of pluralism’ and, thereby, likely to generate progressive national imaginaries? Arriving after decades of paranoia ( Sedgwick, 1997) about maps and nations alike, Rossetto and Lo Presti’s (2022) question comes across as a provocation. Finally, drawing on the thought-provoking examples presented by Rossetto and Lo Presti, I reflect on what principles and practices could guide a progressive national cartography of Italy in 2021. I suggest that these associations deserve further scrutiny and argue that change and ‘everydayness’ may offer a starting point, but not a basis for progressive national mappings. Like many scholars working from a post-representational perspective, Rossetto and Lo Presti associate the fundamental dynamism and contingency of maps with (potential) positive social change and, more specifically, the development of multicultural national imaginaries. In this commentary, I enthusiastically support their call but also argue for the need to move from an appreciation of maps’ fundamental instability to a more daring engagement with the normative dimension of national mapping. I read Rossetto and Lo Presti's article, ‘Reimagining the National Map’, as an invitation to develop what I call, following Eve Sedgwick, a reparative study of national cartographies. All subjects Allied Health Cardiology & Cardiovascular Medicine Dentistry Emergency Medicine & Critical Care Endocrinology & Metabolism Environmental Science General Medicine Geriatrics Infectious Diseases Medico-legal Neurology Nursing Nutrition Obstetrics & Gynecology Oncology Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Otolaryngology Palliative Medicine & Chronic Care Pediatrics Pharmacology & Toxicology Psychiatry & Psychology Public Health Pulmonary & Respiratory Medicine Radiology Research Methods & Evaluation Rheumatology Surgery Tropical Medicine Veterinary Medicine Cell Biology Clinical Biochemistry Environmental Science Life Sciences Neuroscience Pharmacology & Toxicology Biomedical Engineering Engineering & Computing Environmental Engineering Materials Science Anthropology & Archaeology Communication & Media Studies Criminology & Criminal Justice Cultural Studies Economics & Development Education Environmental Studies Ethnic Studies Family Studies Gender Studies Geography Gerontology & Aging Group Studies History Information Science Interpersonal Violence Language & Linguistics Law Management & Organization Studies Marketing & Hospitality Music Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution Philosophy Politics & International Relations Psychoanalysis Psychology & Counseling Public Administration Regional Studies Religion Research Methods & Evaluation Science & Society Studies Social Work & Social Policy Sociology Special Education Urban Studies & Planning BROWSE JOURNALS
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