Mapping a French Department in the northeastern Amazonia: The 1947 Oyapock mission in a context of Decolonization.

This article delves into the interplay between the political, social, and cultural context and the material conditions of governing a cartographic mission within a French territory in the northeastern Amazon. It brings to the fore the collaborative endeavors involving a spectrum of stakeholders, ranging from local knowledge to various institutions, financial and technical resources, and human and logistical support. This research aims to offer an understanding of the cartographic mission during the period of departmentalization, with a specific focus on the situated and context-specific nature of knowledge production. By scrutinizing the fieldwork and the distinct labor regimes of local members of the mission in AEF and French Guiana, along with investigating the intra-imperial circulation of epistemic practices, it examines the colonial integration of cartographers through their trajectories. In a broader context, the article underscores the pivotal role played by geographical knowledge, enriching the landscape of research on the history of cartography during the transformation of the French colonial empire. Employing an approach encompassing material and social dimensions, this study shows the intricacies inherent in colonial cartography and illuminates its implications in the post-World War II era. In doing so, it unlocks fresh avenues for comprehending the geographical and colonial dynamics that characterize this period. • Develops the history of mapping during decolonization by studying the fieldwork of geographers. • Focuses on circulation and hierarchization of European and vernacular geographical knowledge. • Compares labor regime and embodied work of go-betweens in French Guiana and AEF in 1946–1947. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]