FOSS, Cartography, Colonialism and Sovereignty in Paraguay and the Global South

Abstract

This article contributes to the decolonial debate by means of a critical analysis of the historical evolution of Paraguay through its cartographic representations, discussing the connections between maps, colonialism, rights, and citizenship. Exploratory in scope, the article employs a qualitative methodology supported by a triangulation of data sources and methods. It proposes that in Paraguay and Latin America, cartography was linked to colonial processes of territorial domination, military control and exploitation of natural resources, influencing the dynamics of territorial conformation. Based on interviews with key actors and the analysis of contemporary cartographic pieces, we demonstrate that Paraguay has, even today, a low capacity to represent its territory, resulting in limited sovereignty. Finally, we propose that cartography developed from Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) allows for collective, collaborative and cumulative mapping. Such processes make it viable to produce cartographic data for civil multipurpose use with high accuracy and low cost, expanding the conditions of sovereignty. Lacking cost barriers, FOSS tools can empower communities. Consequently, they have an increased potential to subvert historical asymmetries: the more people can produce maps "from the inside", the less forced Paraguay will be to assume narratives and representations made "from the outside".