Cybergeo (Jan 2020)
La séduction des cartes du geoweb. Le cas des flux de migrants internationaux
Abstract
The crisis of European migration policies since 1995, its intense media coverage and the information needs of the civil society on this highly political issue have contributed to expand the production of maps depicting migration. The ambiguous reaction to the map produced by the Finnish communication agency Lucify on the Syrian exodus has led various authors to reconsider issues covered through the mapping of international migration flows. In the Age of the GeoWeb, the production of these maps opens up new questions whose analysis is made complex not only by the apparent variety of technical devices and their implementation, but also because it must simultaneously address what is the intention of the map designer and what is involved in these maps’ reception regarding targeted audiences. It turns out Lucify’s map appears ex-nihilo, the use of metaphorical processes symbolizing inappropriate human migrations. First, we examine the geopolitical stakes of the cartography of the Syrian exodus, then we analyse Lucify's map and its reception in a sensitive politico-technological context. Secondly, we present the underlying methodological issues, in the form of cartographic responses to the social needs of objectivity and humanization of Syrian migration.
Keywords
