Seeing rivers otherwise: Critical cartography as a form of critical pedagogy

Counter-maps have become an increasingly important practice for social movements to claim their rights and to articulate emancipatory actions against extractive intervention plans and dominant territorial reconfiguration projects, especially in the contested field of water governance. Yet the emancipatory nature of these counter-maps should not be taken for granted: much depends on the way in which power relations and different knowledges are negotiated in the critical process of map-making. In this article we therefore investigate how counter cartography, and in particular counter-mapping processes by water justice movements, may benefit from insights from the field and praxis of critical pedagogy. We argue that there is great potential to be unlocked in exploring critical cartography from that perspective. Rather than dissecting the outcomes produced by a critical cartographic practice, we turn our attention to unveiling the transformative and actionable potential that can be found in the mapping process itself. We explore this topic within the context of the grassroots movements that have water as one of their central issues given its relevance and potential for the promotion of more just and sustainable river practices. To this end, we analyse two social arenas in Ecuador where local collectives are engaged in river struggles: the Amazonian Napo province and the Andean district of Licto, Chimborazo province.