‘A map is never neutral’: meet the cartographers who took on centuries of western bias
Listen to Course
0:00
0:00
Recommended Courses
Learner Reviews
Write a review
EN: The noun 'astonishment' commonly collocates with the preposition 'at' (or sometimes 'by') to introduce the stimulus or cause of the emotion: 'express/feel astonishment at [something]'. In formal discourse, it is frequently paired with intensifying adjectives such as 'profound', 'great', or 'sheer'.
Scholars voiced profound astonishment at the sudden discovery of the ancient manuscript.
EN: The present perfect tense ('have expressed') is used here in journalistic style to present recently announced news whose impact and relevance extend into the present, bridging a past occurrence with the current informational state.
Diplomats have expressed cautious optimism regarding the ongoing peace talks.
EN: Map projections are not merely scientific tools; they carry significant political and cultural weight. The traditional Mercator projection significantly inflates landmasses near the poles (such as Europe and North America) while shrinking equatorial regions (notably Africa and South America). The adoption of an equal-area projection like 'Equal Earth' by an international body like the United Nations represents an intentional shift toward geopolitical fairness and decolonizing cartographic representation.
EN: A non-defining (non-restrictive) relative clause, set off by commas and introduced by 'which', provides supplementary descriptive information about the subject ('The new map') without restricting its identity.
The revised treaty, which was drafted over five years, was ratified by the senate yesterday.
EN: The passive voice construction 'was endorsed by' is used here to shift the discourse focus onto 'The new map' (the patient/result) rather than the endorsing states (the agent), fitting formal journalistic and academic register.
The proposal was supported by a unanimous vote of the board members.
EN: The United Nations General Assembly has 193 member states. A tally of 164 votes in favor represents an overwhelming diplomatic majority (over 84%), underscoring broad international consensus on de-biasing cartographic standards against historical Eurocentric displays.
EN: The past perfect tense ('had argued') combined with the adverb 'long' indicates an action or stance that continued over an extended period in the past, prior to another past event or viewpoint.
Critics had long contended that the policy would lead to economic disparity.
EN: The past participle phrase 'devised in the sixteenth century' functions as a non-defining participial modifier, set off by commas, giving additional historical context about 'the dominant Mercator projection' without needing a full relative clause ('which was devised...').
The treaty, signed in the twentieth century, established lasting regional peace.
EN: The contrastive adjective pair 'subtle yet consequential' employs 'yet' as a coordinating conjunction between two adjectives with contrasting implications, highlighting a nuanced quality: something unobtrusive or delicate ('subtle'), yet carrying significant ramifications ('consequential').
The reform brought about a subtle yet consequential shift in corporate culture.
EN: The Mercator projection, presented by Gerardus Mercator in 1569, was originally formulated to assist marine navigation by preserving constant bearing angles. However, it severely distorts land area towards the poles—making Europe and North America appear significantly larger than landmasses near the equator like Africa and South America. In cartographic discourse, critics argue this geographic enlargement subtlely supported Eurocentric and colonialist worldviews.
EN: The pattern 'fault someone/something for doing something' is a formal structure used to assign blame or criticize a target for a specific action or defect.
Analysts faulted the leadership for delaying decisive measures.
EN: The adverb 'thereby' followed by a present participle (-ing phrase) creates a participial result clause, indicating that the second action or state is the direct consequence of the first.
The firm automated routine processes, thereby reducing operating overhead.
EN: The clause 'where global power resides' functions as an embedded question serving as the object of the preposition 'of'. It employs standard subject-verb word order rather than interrogative inversion.
Citizens often debate where the true authority lies.
EN: The 1569 Mercator projection preserves angles and compass bearings, making it indispensable for maritime navigation, but drastically distorts area toward the poles. Over centuries, this visual inflation of Europe and North America compared to Africa and South America has sparked geopolitical debates about 'Eurocentrism' in cartography and the psychological impact of map projections on worldviews.
EN: The phrase 'a distortion...' acts as a summative appositive (or noun phrase apposition). Instead of renaming a single noun, it summarizes the entire preceding clause ('Europe appears disproportionately large relative to Africa') and is further modified by a restrictive relative clause ('that scholars contend has shaped...').
The company reduced employee benefits, a decision that analysts believe will damage morale.
EN: The relative clause contains an embedded reporting verb ('scholars contend') inserted parenthetically before the predicate 'has shaped'. In this structure ('that [subject + reporting verb] + [verb]'), the relative pronoun 'that' serves as the subject of the embedded clause's predicate ('has shaped').
He proposed an alternative theory that researchers argue could revolutionize physics.
EN: 'Relative to' is a complex preposition meaning 'in comparison with' or 'in proportion to'. It is commonly used in formal academic contexts to establish proportional or comparative relationships.
The cost of living in the capital remains exceptionally high relative to rural regions.
EN: In cartography, the 16th-century Mercator projection was originally designed for maritime navigation because it preserves straight lines of constant compass bearing. However, it severely distorts land area near the poles while shrinking equatorial regions. In modern geopolitical critique, postcolonial scholars argue that this visual enlargement of Europe and North America relative to Africa and South America subtly reinforced Eurocentric hegemony and imperial perceptions of global importance.
EN: The noun 'notion' is followed by an appositive clause introduced by 'that' ('that neutrality in mapping is achievable'), which elaborates on the content of the notion. Unlike a relative clause, 'that' here functions as a conjunction rather than a pronoun, and the clause itself is grammatically complete.
The claim that technological progress inevitably improves human well-being requires closer scrutiny.
EN: 'Remains' functions as a linking (copular) verb followed by a predicate adjective/participle ('contested'). This pattern expresses an ongoing or enduring state of dispute or uncertainty.
Whether the fiscal stimulus will produce lasting recovery remains uncertain.
EN: The verb 'maintain' is followed by a content clause acting as its direct object, where the subordinating conjunction 'that' is elliptically omitted: 'maintain [that] it represents...'. This omission is frequent in fluent written and spoken discourse after reporting verbs.
Many economists maintain sustainable growth cannot rely solely on debt-financed consumption.
EN: In cartography and critical geography, the assertion that 'maps are never neutral' reflects the understanding that representing a three-dimensional sphere onto a two-dimensional surface mathematically requires distortion (area, shape, distance, or direction). The debate over projections often intersects with postcolonial theory: traditional Mercator maps visually exaggerated Western, high-latitude nations, whereas equal-area projections like Equal Earth or Peters seek to counteract this perceived Eurocentric bias.
EN: Appositive noun phrases set off by commas provide non-essential descriptive details about the preceding noun phrase ('Tom Patterson'). They enhance descriptive density without requiring a separate relative clause.
Dr. Eleanor Vance, a leading climatologist at Oxford, warned that global temperatures are rising faster than predicted.
EN: Backshifting in reported speech: When the reporting verb is in the past tense ('remarked'), verbs inside the that-clause shift further into the past (from present perfect 'has been' or simple past 'was' to past perfect 'had been').
The spokesperson remarked that the team had worked tirelessly throughout the negotiation.
EN: Tom Patterson is a prominent retired cartographer formerly with the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). The NPS is globally respected for its distinctive, high-quality artistic and accurate relief cartography. Patterson co-developed the Equal Earth projection in 2018 alongside Bojan Šavrič and Bernhard Jenny to offer an aesthetically pleasing, equal-area alternative to the Mercator projection.
EN: The perfect participial clause 'Having virtually come out of retirement' indicates an action completed before or leading directly into the state in the main clause. It functions as an adverbial clause of reason/background ('Because he had virtually come out of retirement...').
Having finished her final exams, she was inundated with congratulatory messages from friends.
EN: The passive construction 'be inundated with something' is an idiomatic metaphor meaning to receive an overwhelming amount of things (such as requests, calls, or mail) akin to being flooded.
The customer service hotline was inundated with complaints following the system outage.
EN: The present participle phrase 'seeking technical details about the projection' acts as a post-modifying adjective clause modifying the noun 'governments' (equivalent to 'governments which were seeking...').
We received numerous applications from candidates seeking remote employment opportunities.
EN: The idiom 'come out of retirement' often carries a heroic or reluctant connotation in English, similar to a veteran specialist being called back for a momentous task. The spelling 'enquiries' often reflects British/Commonwealth or formal international journalistic style (preferred by publications like Reuters or UN contexts), whereas American publications often lean toward 'inquiries'.
EN: Inverted conditional without 'if': 'Were it not for...' is a formal, literary inversion equivalent to 'If it were not for...'. It introduces a counterfactual condition in the present or general state, meaning 'without the existence of'. When paired with a main clause using 'would have + past participle', it forms a mixed conditional or expresses counterfactual consequences.
Were it not for her swift intervention, the negotiation would have collapsed entirely.
EN: Parenthetical reporting clause: 'Patterson emphasized' is inserted parenthetically between the conditional clause and the main matrix clause. In formal written English and journalism, this disrupts the flow momentarily to attribute the statement without nesting everything under a 'that' noun clause.
The real danger, economists warn, lies not in inflation itself, but in sluggish wage growth.
EN: Linking verb 'remain' with a subject complement: 'remain' functions as a copular verb taking the subject complement 'retired' (participial adjective), modified by the adverb 'happily'. The prepositional phrase 'from active cartographic work' functions as a complement indicating the domain of retirement.
Despite mounting public scrutiny, the commissioner has remained steadfastly silent.
EN: The phrase 'happily retired' is an idiomatic Anglo-American expression denoting complete satisfaction with retirement and a lack of desire to return to the workforce. Cartography in major international contexts is a highly specialized, niche discipline; seasoned practitioners often enjoy quiet post-career lives unless a major geopolitical or educational shift—such as the adoption of an alternate global projection—suddenly summons their rare expertise back into public demand.
EN: The phrase 'put forward by Togo' is a reduced relative clause (past participle participial phrase) acting as a non-restrictive modifier for 'The resolution'. It is equivalent to 'which had been put forward by Togo'. Note that 'put' remains in its past participle form.
The proposal, drafted by the committee, received unanimous approval.
EN: The concessive phrase 'though not without dissent' employs litotes (a deliberate double negative: 'not without') to convey a nuanced, measured tone. Grammatically, it is an elliptical clause standing for 'though it was not without dissent'.
The policy was implemented smoothly, though not without controversy.
EN: In multilateral diplomacy at the United Nations, member states frequently sponsor or 'put forward' resolutions that reflect broader collective interests (such as the Global South's perspective on geographic representation). The phrasing 'though not without dissent' reflects formal diplomatic reporting style, where opposition—even if isolated to a single dissenting vote like that of the United States—is acknowledged precisely rather than glossed over.
EN: The non-defining relative clause 'whose representative... dismissed...' uses the possessive relative pronoun 'whose' to refer back to 'the United States'. It provides additional background information and is set off by commas.
The committee censured the company, whose director refused to cooperate with the ongoing inquiry.
EN: The construction 'dismiss something as [adjective/noun]' is commonly used to reject an idea, claim, or proposal by categorizing it as unworthy of serious consideration.
The spokesperson dismissed the allegations as completely groundless.
EN: The adjective phrase 'peripheral to...' indicates that something is of secondary importance, non-essential, or outside the primary focus of something else (such as a core mandate or main goal).
Budget allocation for minor decorative projects was considered peripheral to the school's educational objectives.
EN: In multilateral diplomacy at the United Nations, a member state's sole negative vote—often accompanied by the rhetoric that an initiative is 'peripheral to the core mandate'—is a strategic stance. Diplomats frequently use arguments about procedural scope, budgetary efficiency, or mandate purity to oppose resolutions without explicitly debating the underlying geopolitical or symbolic sensitivities, such as visual representations of national stature on global maps.
EN: The transitive verb 'characterize' frequently takes the pattern 'characterize + object + as + noun phrase / adjective', meaning to describe or depict someone or something as having a particular quality or identity.
Critics characterized the proposed policy as an impediment to economic recovery.
EN: The noun 'encumbrance' (meaning a burden, impediment, or hindrance) is typically followed by the preposition 'on' (or 'to') to indicate what or who is being hindered or burdened.
Administrative red tape has become an unwelcome encumbrance on scientific research.
EN: In multilateral diplomacy (such as at the UN General Assembly), member states often distinguish between 'substantive work' (peacekeeping, human rights, economic development) and symbolic or procedural resolutions. Calling an initiative an 'unnecessary encumbrance' is strong diplomatic language used to signal that a delegation views the motion as political grandstanding or a distraction from real-world mandates.
EN: The elliptical comparative structure 'as does + subject' is used for stylistic inversion and parallelism, standing for 'as Greenland also appears considerably smaller'. It avoids clumsy repetition of the verb phrase while linking parallel ideas smoothly.
Traditional industries suffered heavy losses during the economic downturn, as did many emerging tech startups.
EN: The phrase 'a territory that...' functions as an appositive noun phrase providing additional information about 'Greenland', followed by a defining relative clause ('that former President Donald Trump had openly coveted') with past perfect tense showing an action completed before the reference timeframe.
The team signed the young striker from Portugal, an athlete who had previously broken multiple youth records.
EN: In August 2019, then-President Donald Trump publicly proposed that the United States should purchase Greenland from Denmark, sparking widespread diplomatic bewilderment and international media attention. The cartographic context is significant: on traditional Mercator maps, Greenland appears comparable in size to the entire African continent, whereas in reality Africa is roughly fourteen times larger. Under the Equal Earth projection, Greenland shrinks dramatically to its true relative scale.
EN: The verb 'supplant' means to supersede and replace someone or something, often in a position of power, influence, or routine use. It typically takes an object directly: 'X supplants Y'.
Renewable energy is projected to gradually supplant fossil fuels over the coming decades.
EN: The main clause verb 'hope' can take a nominal clause as its object with the conjunction 'that' omitted (zero-that clause). Here, 'hope (that) the Equal Earth projection will gradually supplant...' illustrates this common construction.
Researchers hope this novel treatment will eradicate the virus completely.
EN: The Mercator projection, created in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator, was designed for nautical navigation but became standard in classrooms worldwide. Because it inflates landmasses away from the equator, regions like Europe and North America appear disproportionately large compared to Africa and South America. The Equal Earth projection, developed in 2018, aims to correct this perception by preserving relative area while maintaining visually pleasing continental shapes.
EN: Inversion in conditional clauses: When 'if' is omitted in a hypothetical or conditional sentence involving 'should', subject-auxiliary inversion occurs ('Should + subject + bare infinitive...'). This structure conveys a formal, elevated tone typical of academic or journalistic writing.
Should negotiations fail, the treaty will be terminated immediately.
EN: Wh-nominal relative clause acting as direct object: The clause 'how future generations perceive global geography and power dynamics' functions as a fused relative clause (or embedded wh-question) serving as the object of the verb 'reshape'.
Scholars are studying how social media influences political discourse.
EN: Cartography has historically reflected political ideology; traditional maps like the Mercator projection inflate the land area of wealthy Western nations in the Global North. The phrase 'power dynamics' highlights critical geography—the idea that visual representations of space actively shape international relations and colonial/post-colonial worldviews.
EN: The sentence joins two independent clauses using the coordinating conjunction 'and'. In the second clause, the verb 'embodies' takes an abstract direct object ('particular assumptions'), followed by a prepositional phrase ('about the world') that is modified by a restrictive relative clause with an omitted relative pronoun ('[which/that] it purports to represent').
Scientific research is rarely value-free, and every theoretical framework reflects underlying assumptions about the reality it attempts to explain.
EN: The verb 'purport' followed by an infinitive ('purports to represent') is formal and often carries a nuanced implication of skepticism or critical distance, meaning to claim, profess, or appear to be something, especially when that claim may be open to doubt or scrutiny.
The document purports to show the company's financial stability, but independent auditors have raised serious doubts.
EN: This statement reflects a foundational premise in critical cartography, which argues that maps are not objective reflections of reality but social and political constructs. Every two-dimensional projection of a three-dimensional globe must distort area, shape, distance, or direction, inevitably reflecting the geopolitical priorities or biases of its makers.
Key vocabulary words with IPA pronunciation, definitions, example sentences, and interactive quizzes.
Phrases with type tags, bilingual definitions, usage notes, and example sentences.
A mathematical technique used in cartography to represent the spherical curved surface of the Earth on a flat plane.
To collect or win widespread approval, assistance, or agreement.
To suggest, propose, or submit an idea, plan, or resolution for consideration.
To return to professional work or active duty after having previously retired.