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PaperclipPerfector  8hr ago (text post)   205 thread views

Transnational Thursday for September 10, 2026

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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leading in particular to a symbolic minimization of Africa in collective imaginations and knowledge systems

Yes, because placing Africa centrally in the most common default maps was a conspiracy to minimize the importance of Africa.

Edit: I realize I should probably have made a clearer point. I am aware of the general argument for why the African Union is arguing for an equal-area projection to be "encouraged." I do not find it convincing that area is the only factor in visual prominence, or that area alone should be the only factor for determining if a map introduces undesirable bias or will promote justice. I seriously think the map being aesthetic is more important, and that quantitative comparisons have better forms. I also think developed-country elementary school classrooms can afford and should have a globe available. Preferably a planimetric globe that can be dismounted from its stand and rotated freely to examine.

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