Navigate/Understand
Navigation is never just a geographic practice; it's a metaphor for power and knowledge. By mapping and charting unknown territories, explorers like Martens were not simply moving through space but asserting a form of intellectual and territorial ownership. The act of navigation implies a right to understand, and by extension, a right to modify, extract from, and ultimately control the navigated space. It's a process that transforms landscapes from living, complex ecosystems into resources awaiting European economic and scientific engagement.
Navigation is never just a geographic practice; it's a metaphor for power and knowledge. By mapping and charting unknown territories, explorers like Martens were not simply moving through space but asserting a form of intellectual and territorial ownership. The act of navigation implies a right to understand, and by extension, a right to modify, extract from, and ultimately control the navigated space. It's a process that transforms landscapes from living, complex ecosystems into resources awaiting European economic and scientific engagement.