Tag: books
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If I Were the Head of ITI
For almost three years, I have been researching, analysing and critiquing the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) — its public positions, its relationships with commercial actors, the narratives it promotes, the questions it asks and, sometimes, the questions I think it should be asking but isn’t. My interest is not really in ITI for…
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What Happens If Translators Quit?
Please indulge me in a little thought experiment. Imagine that translators who can no longer earn what they consider a reasonable living from translation gradually decide: Enough. I want a secure income and a better work-life balance. I can do something else. What happens next? Some translators might be disheartened about quitting work they love.…
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Three Lessons from Women’s Rights Movements for Translators
I want to begin with a clarification. I am not suggesting that the challenges facing translators are equivalent to the historical discrimination and oppression experienced by women. However, social movements often generate important lessons about power, responsibility, and social change. Some of those lessons are surprisingly relevant to current debates within the translation and interpreting…
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Should university translation departments belong to the same club as interest groups
This critique reflects the author’s independent analysis and should not be understood as representing any institutional position. It is not connected to, commissioned by, or endorsed by the University at which the author is currently completing doctoral studies. My interest in this question arises from a broader concern about knowledge creation, academic independence, and the…
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We need to talk about the value of translation—but wait… do we mean translators’ labour or LSP services?
I often come across the phrase “the value of translation” in professional discourse and academic writing, and I wonder what it really means—and whose value we are actually talking about. There is no doubt that translation enables communication and business exchange, but is it politically problematic to treat it as a single, undifferentiated entity? I…
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Why Invoke “A More Joyful Life” While Many Linguists Struggle to Sustain One? An Open Letter to the Head of the Chartered Institute of Linguists
Dear John Worne, This as an open letter in response to your remarks during the event Studying Translation in the Age of AI, organised by the University of Surrey. It highlights serious concerns regarding the partial and potentially misleading account you presented of the translation and interpreting industry by reframing structural challenges—such as declining pay,…
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On the ethical importance of recognising the lived realities of interpreters and translators: My letter to Baroness Jean Coussins, the Honorary President of the Chartered Institute of Linguists
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry Dear Baroness Coussins, Thank you for your previous correspondence in response to my concerns about the poor pay and working conditions of public service interpreters. I was honoured to receive your replies at the time. I…
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Talent Pipelines or Precarity Pipelines? Setting the Narrative Straight on the UK Language Industry
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry Like many, I was saddened to read about the closure of the Modern Languages department at Cardiff University. This represents a lost opportunity for global understanding, cross-cultural communication, economic development, and the continuous progress of humanity.…
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