Citizens and Rulers of the World: The American Child and the Cartographic Pedagogies of Empire

This thought-provoking study explores the complex,cross-generational relationships between children and maps at the dawn of the American Century,examining how they encountered,made sense of,and produced spatial narratives and cognitive maps. It calls for new modes of mapping the United States and investigates the multilayered liaison between imperial pedagogy and geopolitical literacy across a wide range of archival evidence.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 29 March 2022
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press

This captivating study delves into the intricate,cross-generational exchanges that define any political project as expansive as an empire,with a particular focus on the complex and nuanced relationships between children and maps at the dawn of the American Century. By viewing children as active participants in the world, rather than passive recipients of knowledge,Mayar explores the ways in which they encountered,interpreted,and created spatial narratives and cognitive maps of the United States and the wider world.

Furthermore, she investigates how children's diverse approaches to consuming,interacting with,and appropriating the information conveyed by maps transformed cartography into a site of personal and political contention. In order to understand where the United States imagined itself at the end of the nineteenth century,this book advocates for new methods of mapping the nation on regional,hemispheric,and global scales. By examining the multifaceted interplay between imperial pedagogy and geopolitical literacy across a wide range of archival evidence,Mayar conducts a meticulous microhistorical study of the United States' empire.

Through her analysis,Mayar sheds light on the ways in which children's experiences and perspectives shaped the development of American imperialism and contributed to the construction of the nation's geopolitical identity. This thought-provoking study not only offers valuable insights into the past but also has implications for our understanding of the ongoing dynamics of power,knowledge,and geography in the contemporary world.

Dimension: 235 x 155 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781469667270