Never before have I thought about maps as being alive. Constantly changing, constantly evolving, no two maps are the same and no two maps are made with the same intentions. Each map has its own biases and each map seeks to convince the viewer to accept a certain perspective.
But despite the diversity inherent in maps, they are still taken to be the truth and the authority. Therefore, when we went to the social movements lab talk, we learned that they are also currently being used as a form of social activism.
Upon heading about the use of mapping as a form of social activism, I decided to look into the possibility of mapping the Earth First movement. However the Earth First movement is not an organization but a movement and as stated on earthfirst.org, they believe in using all the tools in the tool box, ranging from grassroots organizing and involvement in the legal process to civil disobedience.” This unconventional movement has no goal except to put the earth and the earth’s needs first before those that threaten it. They seek to stop the most serious threats to their respective areas by doing anything necessary from litigation to creative civil disobedience. As a result, it will be hard to map out the work and actions of the unconventional Earth First movement due to their lack of “rules” and regulations.
However, thinking back on it, that may be the point, to map out an unconventional movement, one must use an unconventional map. Maybe to map out the Earth First movement, one must first identify the major ecological threats and then expand from there to see what has been done and what still needs to be done. Maybe rather than looking at what has been done, we must look at what still needs to be done? Now that would be an unconventional map!
