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This article (published in the peer-reviewed journal Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies) draws on critical cultural justice inquiry to reflect on participatory mapping activities that were aimed at capturing practices, routes, and emotions associated with Kingston. We discuss how participants understood the parameters of mapping tasks; adapted and individualised activities; engaged in collaborative practice; and exercised reflexivity. The article finds that participatory mapping captures variances in how participants relate to and engage with Kingston. The article finds that participatory mapping can overcome the limitations of traditional cartographic practices by capturing variances in how participants understand, relate to, and engage with Kingston. However, the recording of conversations during participatory mapping activities is critical if researchers are to more fully tease out the visual and aesthetic information recorded on participatory maps. In this sense, the value of participatory mapping is less about the maps that are produced and more about what is revealed during the process of mapping.

Cite this publication: Cantillon, Z, Baker, S & Evans, C 2024, ‘Cartography, Conversation, and Critical Cultural Justice Inquiry: Participatory Mapping and the Reimagining of Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area, Norfolk Island’, Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 471–486. doi:10.1177/15327086241279819