RESOURCES
Beyond Esri Resource Guide
In solidarity with abolition movements across the world, we call on geographers to begin to divest themselves from the creation of carceral space by moving beyond Esri, and moving beyond carceral GIS. We created this guide as a resource of open source and low cost alternatives to Esri, as well as a collection of projects and publications that challenge the hegemony of carceral logics in geospatial analytics. In this resource guide, we gather open source geo-visualization and geo-spatial analysis software, inspiring projects, readings and more.
Tools to Use
Allmaps
Free tool for georeferencing maps and display layers
https://allmaps.org/
DIVA-GIS
Free computer program for mapping and geographic data analysis
https://diva-gis.org/
GRASS GIS
Free Open Source Software for raster, vector, and geospatial processing
https://grass.osgeo.org/
Felt
A cloud-native GIS platform
https://felt.com/about
Field Papers
Make an atlas with this OpenStreetMap project
https://fieldpapers.org/
FlowmapBlue
Create geographic flow maps for free
https://www.flowmap.blue/
GeoNode
Open Source Geospatial Content Management System
https://geonode.org/
Leventhal Map & Education Center
A department of the Boston Public Library dedicated to maps, atlases, and related educational resources. It houses a vast collection of cartographic materials and offers various services, including research appointments, digital collections, and educational programs for both the public and K-12 students.
https://www.leventhalmap.org/
Their online search platform Cartinal provides documentation, guides, and resources for GIS, data, and mapmaking.
https://cartinal.leventhalmap.org/
Specifically, their web tool panel-truck allows you to create annotated map stories from primary documents in their collection and beyond.
https://cartinal.leventhalmap.org/guides/create-stories.html#examples
https://cartinal.leventhalmap.org/documentation/panel-truck.html
MapReader
An open-source python library for exploring and analyzing images at scale
https://mapreader.readthedocs.io/en/latest/introduction-to-mapreader/what-is-mapreader.html
Mapshaper
Online editor for spatial data in Shapefile, GeoJSON, TopoJSON, KML, and CSV formats
https://mapshaper.org/
Map Tiler Cloud
Offers tools for customizing maps, uploading and creating geodata and more
https://www.maptiler.com/company/
OpenLayers
Online library of tiles, vector layers, and more
https://openlayers.org/
QGIS
Free Open Source Software for mapping and geospatial analysis
https://www.qgis.org/
Scribble Maps
Web software for making maps
https://www.scribblemaps.com/
StorymapJS
A tool for creating storymaps made by the Knightlab at Northwestern University https://storymap.knightlab.com/
Storymap.js
A javascript library for storytelling with web maps maintained by the Cartography and Geovisualization Group at Oregon State University.
https://github.com/jakobzhao/storymap
Storiiies
A tool by Cogapp for accessible, clear, elegant and engaging online storytelling
https://www.cogapp.com/r-d/storiiies
Whitebox Geo
Open-source geospatial software
https://www.whiteboxgeo.com/
What You Can Do
I’m an instructor
Teach students about the tools and technologies that Esri offers to police forces, how police forces use Esri tools and GIS more broadly, and what the relationships between Esri and police forces look like.
Teach with GIS tools and geospatial technologies that are not linked to or are less linked to police forces than Esri’s offerings, such as QGIS. We know it is not always possible to not teach with Esri in the classroom because of curriculum requirements, so we encourage instructors to add new tools to the GIS toolbox and geospatial technologies they use when teaching.
Talk about Esri’s strong connections with police with other instructors, colleagues in your department, and fellow members of the professional organizations that you are in such as the AAG, CAG, and/or RGS. Inquire about and organize trainings with platforms, softwares, and tools that are alternatives to Esri, and the possibility of divesting from Esri.
I’m a student
Ask your instructors questions about the softwares, tools, and technologies that you are learning to use in your classes. Ask about the history of GIS, its ties to the military and police, and its contemporary practical applications in city government agencies, including policing.
Inquire about being trained in alternatives to Esri in GIS classes, and ask if it is acceptable to use alternatives to Esri for class assignments.
Use the many free and low-cost educational resources for learning alternatives to Esri offered in this guide and online through OpenSource communities on Github, Reddit, YouTube and more to train yourself in GIS tools and technologies that are not Esri affiliated.
I’m a GIS practitioner
Talk with colleagues about the tools and technologies that Esri offers to police forces, how police forces use Esri tools and GIS more broadly, and what the relationships between Esri and police forces look like.
Investigate how the company or government agency that you work with may have linkages to police through Esri or other GIS tools and geospatial technologies that are in use.
Projects That Inspired Us
From Data Criminalization to Prison Abolition by Community Justice Exchange
Report and tools for organizers to understand multiple forms of migrant surveillance and data criminalization.
Anti-Eviction Mapping Project
Volunteer group documenting dispossession, resistance and gentrification through critical cartography and data-visualization. They also produce digital maps, software and tools, narrative multimedia work, murals, reports, and community events across San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York City.
Atlas of Surveillance
This project uses crowdsourcing to highlight the different technologies that U.S. police departments and other parts of the state use to surveil individuals and organizations. It shows how widespread police surveillance is in the United States.
Hacking into History: Reckoning with Racial Covenants in Durham, North Carolina
The project aims to tell the story and impact of racially restrictive agreements contained in property deeds in Durham, North Carolina using public records information and archival documentation.
Mapping Atlanta
Blog by Georgia State University faculty for exploring Atlanta’s inequalities through maps, it includes posts about public housing, Cop City, corporate landlords, police jurisdictions and agencies, university lands, and much more.
The Demarest Factor: US Military Mapping of indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico
Documentary film that follows U.S. military mapping of communal land holdings in southern Mexico. Also shows how American academics and geography departments supported this project.
Stop LAPD Spying Coalition
This Los Angeles-based coalition generates research and reports on LAPD surveillance practices and generates policy proposals for abolishing police surveillance.
No Tech For ICE
Campaign by community organizing group Mijente that documents links between US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and various tech companies – and organizes resistance to these relationships.
Prison Agriculture Lab
A collaborative space for inquiry and action that focuses on agriculture in the criminal punishment system, maintained by Colorado State University faculty. Features research and advocacy that focuses on place, power, inequality, and resistance informed by scholarship, art, and activism that challenges racial capitalism and advances food justice and abolition.
Uncovering Racial Logics: Louisville's History of Racial Oppression and Activism
A website from University of Louisville faculty and librarians that provides resources for people interested in researching or learning more about Louisville’s history of racial activism, segregation, and oppression, specifically in the areas of education, policing, and housing.