Subaltern cartographies: Exploring geographical imaginations of the agricultural landscape

Abstract

Geographical imaginations of the state-owned agricultural landscape mediated by state-sanctioned neoliberal visual discourse obscures the actual realities of these state-spaces. In this paper, I argue that maps that emerge from everyday practices of subaltern groups not only unveil actual realities of state-spaces but also embed possibilities of these landscapes. Farm-settlers on alienated government farmlands of Oyo State of Nigeria use a participatory sketch mapping to reveal spatialities that contest the authoritative cartographies of the farm settlement scheme. Regardless of the authoritative visualisations of state imaginaries, subaltern mappings are an integral part of the everyday geographies of the state-owned agricultural landscape. In conclusion, social mapping of the economic landscape served not only to counter disinformation but also as visual reminders for improvement evident in the farmers’ imagined futures.