Maps of Power: Cartography, Territory, and State Formation in Italy MTA
How mapping, borders, and geographic knowledge influenced political authority and regional identities from medieval to modern Italy.

About this book:

*Maps of Power: Cartography, Territory, and State Formation in Italy* explores how the representation of space has been inextricably linked to political authority and identity from the medieval period to the digital age. The book begins by examining early spatial logics, such as pilgrim itineraries and maritime portolan charts, which established practical ways of navigating the peninsula. As communes and signorie emerged, maps became essential tools for asserting jurisdiction, managing resources, and defining civic boundaries. The Renaissance further revolutionized this field by introducing perspective and geometric surveying, turning maps into persuasive instruments of princely command and sophisticated military engineering.

The narrative transitions into the early modern and Napoleonic eras, highlighting the shift toward standardized administrative space. Enlightenment ideals introduced science and statistics to cartography, leading to the creation of cadastres and systematic hydrographic projects that made the territory legible for taxation and state planning. Napoleon’s reordering of the peninsula into departments and a unified road network accelerated this rationalization, providing a blueprint for the centralized administration that would influence the Restoration and the eventual movement toward unification during the Risorgimento.

Following the birth of the Kingdom of Italy, the book details the role of the Istituto Geografico Militare (IGM) in establishing a national cartographic standard. This period saw the map mobilized for nation-building through the expansion of railways, postal networks, and the demarcation of strategic Alpine frontiers. The text also examines the darker side of representation under Fascism, where cartography supported autarky, land reclamation (*bonifica*), and colonial expansion in Africa, using the map as a tool of ideological and imperial projection.

In the contemporary era, the book explores the transition to "Digital Italy," where Geographic Information Systems (GIS), satellite imagery, and real-time crisis mapping have transformed the map into a dynamic analytical tool. It concludes by analyzing the power of representation in a decentralized republic, where regional autonomies and digital platforms like OpenStreetMap have broken the state's monopoly on geographic knowledge. Ultimately, the work argues that maps are never neutral; they remain contested sites of power that continue to shape Italy’s internal rivalries, environmental management, and future borders.

What You'll Find Inside:

• Maps as political instruments: Italian cartography consistently served to claim, measure, and govern territory—never as neutral representations—from medieval boundary stones to modern GIS.
• Evolution from fragmented to national mapping: How early regional practices (itineraries, portolan charts, communal maps) laid groundwork for Italy's unified cartographic vision during unification and state-building.
• Diverse regime cartographies: Analyzes how communes, papal states, maritime republics, dynastic states, and Fascist Italy used mapping distinctively to assert authority and project power across the peninsula.
• Mapping identity and difference: Explores how cartography reflected and shaped Italy's linguistic diversity, regional identities, and unification-autonomy tensions.
• Digital continuities: Contemporary GIS and crisis mapping inherit older power logics while enabling new data-driven governance and public engagement.

Who's It For:

This book is essential for historians, historical geographers, and cartography scholars studying the political dimensions of mapping. It particularly benefits researchers of Italian state formation, nationalism, and territorial governance, as well as students in European history and geography. Professionals in urban planning, GIS, and cultural heritage will gain historical context for understanding how spatial representation shapes power dynamics today.