Why would the Mercator map be described as Eurocentric?
The idea is that in the Mercator map, Europe is seen as a much larger land mass and appears reasonably large compared to the Gall-Peters projection, which shows Europe as a much smaller mass, almost insignificant, when compared to regions like Africa.
Why does Canada look so big on a map?
Canada, with a size of 9,984,670 sq km, has almost equal size of China (9,596,961 sq km), but its proximity to the North Pole makes it look much larger than China. On a normal global map, it looks almost the same size as a north European country like, say Finland (338,424 sq km).
Which map projection is Eurocentric?
For decades, the political significance of maps has been discussed, including the Mercator projection as a construction of a Eurocentric world view [3] and whether maps can become a means of empowerment and serve only the interests of elites in society.
When did Eurocentrism begin?
The term “Eurocentrism” dates back to the late 1970s but it did not become prevalent until the 1990s, when it was frequently applied in the context of decolonisation and development and humanitarian aid that industrialised countries offered to developing countries.
Where does the Eurocentric view of the world come from?
I. Eurocentric view and maps of the world ǀ 28 September 2015 ǀ 29 T-O map O derives from the circularity of the map; T comes from the cross formed by the Mediterranean, the Nile and the Don (Danube). It is a map of religious inspiration: Jerusalem is at the center and the three continents represent the trinity.
Who is the founder of Eurocentrism and what does it mean?
The abstract noun Eurocentrism (French eurocentrisme, earlier europocentrisme) as the term for an ideology was coined in the 1970s by the Egyptian Marxian economist Samir Amin, then director of the “African Institute for Economic Development and Planning” of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
What are the three misconceptions of Eurocentrism?
Toynbee concluded that Eurocentrism is characteristic of three misconceptions manifested by self-centerment, the fixed development of Oriental countries and linear progress.
Why was Eurocentrism important to the colonizers?
James M. Blaut (2000) argued that Eurocentrism indeed army beyond other ethnocentrisms, as the scale of European colonial expansion was historically unprecedented and resulted in the formation of a “colonizer’s model of the world”.