Geospatial Technologies and the Geographies of Hope and Fear

Abstract

The geographies of hope and fear are a rich vein of investigation in our discipline. Social theorists have discussed how geospatial technologies (GSTs) are things to be feared. They point to the loss of privacy, to the use of technologies in warfare, and to the growth of surveillance. I explore this understanding and the “evil” side of geospatial technologies, and I present the alternative view—a view of these technologies as harbingers of hope. GSTs have a positive role to play in environmental protection, in health, and in social justice. There is a need for the involvement of more human geographers in technological development in order to allow for critical analyses of the social impacts generated by these technologies. Only by shining the spotlight of critical geographical analyses on development of GSTs, and their uses, can we ensure that technological development is kept on a path of positive development. This addition of the social to the technological is imperative and requires an active role on the part of geographers. Geographers, and geography as a discipline, are well suited to this challenge, and as islands of researchers coalesce into a synergistic “mainland community” of cooperative investigation into GSTs the result will be a well-woven fabric of socially responsible technology.