Visualization Methods for Exploring Transborder Indigenous Populations

Abstract

This chapter highlights the importance of information visualization using web mapping to shed light on the correlation between social actors. It shows how this method helps to understand if Berber identity beyond frontiers is a reality or just a motto in support of “cultural activism.” The suggested web mapping presents the hyperlinks weaved between websites whose focus is Berber cultural identity. Berbers are the indigenous people of North Africa. They are scattered in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya; they have built a “resistance identity,” including both cultural and political claims, long before the digital age. Since the 1960s they have been struggling for recognition against the state's cultural and political domination in which they live. The analysis of Berbers' relationships amongst each other on the internet is valuable for understanding the main features and issues of this digital connection, its shape, its contents, and actor typology.