Tag: philosophy
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We Must Acknowledge the Ethical and Political Tensions of Advising Translators to Move into “Adjacent Careers”
As part of my ongoing work on re-politicising translation labour and developing a theory of change for the UK translation and interpreting industry, I have argued that a more robust theory of change should evaluate whether commonly promoted “solutions” are evidence-based, ethically sound, and proportionate to the structural realities of the labour market. This article…
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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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Who Authorised You to Speak for Translators? Access to Work, Power, and Representation in Translation and Interpreting
Translation and interpreting organisations frequently claim to represent translators and interpreters. They issue policy statements, publish position papers, respond to government consultations, and engage in “collaboration” on behalf of the profession. Yet a basic question is rarely asked: How do these organisations know that the positions they advance actually reflect what translators and interpreters want—or…
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Who gets to define what counts as credible knowledge about translators’ rights—and whose knowledge is excluded in the process?
Recently, in a conversation with a senior representative of a translation and interpreting professional body, I found myself saying something quite simple: it does not make sense for us to be positioned on opposite sides of this discussion, because one side represents translators, and the other is trying to write about their rights. This perplexing…
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The Dangerous Politics of “Working Together”: Why Interpreter and Translator Organisations Must Review Their Role in Normalising Outsourcing
This second article in an ongoing investigation builds on a theory of change for the UK translation and interpreting sector. The first article examined the institutional structure of Professional Interpreters for Justice (PI4J) and the tensions between claims of representation, institutional hybridity, and embedded organisational incentives. This article turns to a critical analysis of the…
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Repoliticising Institutional Hybridity and Governmentality: Towards Meaningful Change in Labour Representation by Professional Interpreters for Justice
In this work, I build on my proposed theory of change for the translation and interpreting sector. It examines the structure and role of the umbrella organisation Professional Interpreters for Justice (PI4J) within outsourced public service interpreting, as part of a broader effort to repoliticise interpreting and translation labour and to analyse the structural organisation…
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10 Concrete Practice-Oriented Changes ITI Can Implement: Moving Beyond Adaptation Toward Labour-Conscious Institutional Framing
This article sets out a series of concrete, practice-oriented changes that the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) could implement in order to engage more directly with the structural labour conditions affecting translators and interpreters. It builds on my earlier article, Theory of Change for the UK Translation and Interpreting Industry, and should be understood…
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Theory of Change for the UK Translation and Interpreting Industry: Repoliticising Labour Precarity and Mapping Responsibility
Abstract This article proposes a theory of change for understanding and addressing persistent low pay and precarity in the translation and interpreting industry through the repoliticisation of translation labour. Building on my previous analyses of translators’ labour conditions, it argues that low pay is structurally produced through the organisation of the translation supply chain. Translation…
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What hope is there for translators when their intensifying financial insecurity is often depoliticised, even in The Guardian’s coverage?
I read with interest the Guardian’s recent article on AI and translation labour titled “‘Being human helps’: despite rise of AI is there still hope for Europe’s translators?” While I am grateful for an article that acknowledges worsening precarity, declining rates, and reduced workflows, I believe it still reproduces a depoliticised and problematic framing, presenting…
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Is Professionalisation Rhetoric Contributing to a Precarity Trap for Translators and Interpreters?
There is a crisis across the translation and interpreting industry. An expanding body of academic research documents worsening working conditions across the profession: declining rates, fragmented work, weakening bargaining power, growing financial insecurity, and intensifying precarity. My own research shows that a large proportion of public service interpreters are struggling to earn enough to meet…
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Are translators really lacking entrepreneurship skills? What is the problem represented to be?
When we read reports about the profession, whether in academic studies or professional association publications, there are often lists of entrepreneurship skills translators supposedly need to acquire: better negotiation, improved business strategy, more active marketing, or greater adaptability in a changing market. But there is a useful question we should ask whenever we encounter this…
