All Strings Attached: Negotiating Relationships of Geographic Information Science

Abstract

Abstract Human geography has driven substantive improvements in methodologies and applications ofGeographicInformationSystems (GISs), yetIndigenous groups continue to experience erasure in geographic representations.GISontologies comprise categorised labels that represent lived contexts, and these ontologies are determined through the shared worldviews of those labelling spatial phenomena for entry intoGISdatabases. AlthoughWestern ontologies and spatial representations reflectWestern understandings of human experience, they are often inappropriate inIndigenous contexts. In efforts to be represented in courts and land management,Indigenous groups nevertheless need to engageWestern spatial representations to ‘claim space’. This paper examines whatGISsare and do and shows thatGIStechnology comes with strings attached to the myriad social contexts that continue to shape the field ofGIScience. We show thatIntellectualPropertyRightsAgreements can sever and control these ‘strings’; the agreement between theYortaYortaNationAboriginalCorporation and university researchers reframesGISfrom a technology of erasure to a technology of opportunity that enablesIndigenous groups to define their own engagement. The visual and narrative outputs will contribute important understandings of the environmental crisis facing theMurray–DarlingBasin and connect older and younger generations through knowledge sharing. We conclude the application ofGIScience is never simply technological but always has potential to empower particular communities. ApplyingGIStechnology to new circumstances is an engagement of new relationships in the social praxis of technology transfer, where worldviews meet and negotiations are made over what exists and how we know.

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