Rewiring for a GIS/2.

Increasing numbers of activist non-profits and traditionally marginalized peoples are adopting GIS as a tool for social change. Its use is scrutinized by academics who worry that GIS embodies a mechanism for misrepresentation, diversion, control, and surveillance. This critique has not slowed adoption, and for the past decade researchers have been investigating the use and value of GIS in a variety of non-profits and citizens' groups. Many of these new users are calling for a different kind of GIS - a GIS/2. This GIS must be able to represent different measures and visions of place and integrate local knowledge, support cultural and multi-lingual distinctions, and preserve - rather than reduce - friction, disagreement, redundancy, and even error. In this paper I argue that one must "rewire GIS" - that is, engage the code and the coding directly - to build a GIS/2. A literature review on the use and value of GIS in social movements, activist non-profits, and citizens' groups illustrates the limitations of current GIS and the necessary ingredients for a more inclusive GIS/2. I present four approaches, which are framed materially and discursively. Three approaches modify existing GIS to achieve a GIS/2. A fourth systems design approach is proposed, which incorporates two innovations in computing science: Unified Modelling Language (UML) and eXtensible Markup Language (XML). This prototype is sensitized to the needs of social movement, non-profit, and citizens' organizations. These four approaches, used separately or in conjunction, serve as blueprints for further discussions on the rewiring of GIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]