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This session was streamed but not recorded

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Description:

The decennial legislative redistricting process is arguably one of the most visible moments for geographers and geography in the U.S. with intense legal and political battles focused on details of data, spatial analysis, and cartography that are otherwise largely overlooked by the public. The redistricting cycle that “came to a close” in 2022 was exceptional for the additional coverage it received driven by advocacy groups pushing for ‘fair’ maps, new independent redistricting commissions, and a Supreme Court seemingly willing to consider changes to the law that were, until recently, considered settled. Now that the dust is settling on the first use of those maps in the 2022 midterm elections we want to ask the question, what happened? Since maps are under litigation in several States and the groundwork for the next redistricting cycle is already being laid down, we want to ask the question what happens next?
More broadly, redistricting applies not just to legislative districts, but to city councils, school districts, and other administrative entities with potentially very different rules and expectations. Redistricting takes place in many forms outside the U.S., but these processes are not given sufficient attention by U.S. focused scholars of redistricting. We want to know more about these processes and what they can tell us about the way districting works in other contexts. Are tools from the legislative battles being tested in these other contexts? Are there mechanisms that are being tried in other contexts that could be brought into legislative districting next time?

Non-Presenting Participants