Tag: news
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Universities Must Learn from the Epstein Scandals: Do Your Damn Due Diligence and Protect Whistle-blowers
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry We all know it: the system is wrecked, but that should never stop us from trying to fix it. Maybe nothing can ever measure up to the horror those girls and young women lived through. The…
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How much does the translation industry cost our society by underpaying its largely precarious workforce?
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry The translation and interpreting industry is frequently celebrated as a multi-billion-pound economic success story. Yet behind these impressive figures lies a far less comfortable truth. Drawing on research into working conditions across the sector, it becomes…
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Why Are Translators’ Rights Always Said to Be “Discussed Elsewhere”? Institutional Alignment with Commercial Interests as an Ethical and Strategic Failure
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry Translators’ and interpreters’ labour rights are often framed as merely a matter of low rates and consistently displaced in collaborations with commercial interests under the pretext of being out of scope or better addressed “elsewhere,” in…
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The Precariat: Critical Insights for Translators and Interpreters in an Age of Insecurity
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry In today’s fast-changing labour market, translators and interpreters are increasingly facing precarious working conditions and intensifying insecurities. The Precariat (2021) is an excellent book by economist Guy Standing that captures the lived realities of workers who…
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Public services rendered
Fardous Bahbouh investigates the progress – or lack of it – towards equitable pay for public service interpreting. This article was first published by the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) Consider this. The UK language services market is currently worth around £2.2 billion. Some translation companies have self-reported gross margins of up to 77…
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What Is the Real Cost of Outsourcing? My Letter to the House of Lords Public Services Committee
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry Dear Baroness Morris, I am truly grateful to you and the members of the Public Services Committee for your recent report on interpreting services in the courts. Your inquiry came at a critical time for justice—for…
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Equitable Distribution of Risks, Responsibilities and Rewards Could Be the Solution to Court Interpreting
By: Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry In a recent article, economist Mariana Mazzucato argues that achieving good economic growth in the UK requires getting public-private partnerships right by ensuring fair sharing of both risks and rewards. Mazzucato highlights the historical problem in…
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Labour Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services Insist on Allowing ‘the Market’ to determine Interpreters Fees, Ignoring Evidence from the House of Lords Inquiry
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry The Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services, Sarah Sackman, spoke at the House of Lords on Wednesday. Instead of acknowledging the inquiry’s published evidence, the minister shamelessly reiterated false statements based on clearly flawed…
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Before Setting New Year’s Resolutions: Beware the Trap of CPD for Precarious Workers (AKA Freelancers)
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry As the festive season approaches, a time meant to be joyful can often feel like a storm of financial stress, social anxiety, and forced cheerfulness. For freelancers, especially those in exploitive sectors like the outsourced public…
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Professionalism vs Indentured Labour
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry I just had a difficult conversation with the gentleman who cleans our windows. He was quite unreasonable, but I managed to stay firm and calm. Usually, he cleans windows for several buildings on our street in…
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