Over the past two decades, techniques for advanced computing and enhanced imaging have transformed the ways planners, geographers, surveyors, and others think about and visualize the places, regions, and peoples of the earth. Ground Truth is the first book to explicitly address the role of geographic information systems (GIS) in their social context. Contributing authors consider the ideas and practices that have emerged among GIS users, demonstrating how they reflect the material and political interests of certain groups. Chapters also discuss the impact of new GIS technologies on the discipline of geography, and evaluate the role of GIS within the wider transformations of free-market capitalism.