In-between activism and professionalism in interpretation: case study of the respond community

Abstract

The focus of this research is activism in interpretation studies. In a current world where crisis and social inequalities abound, activism plays a crucial part. For the past 20 years, several activist groups have appeared and campaigned for overcoming language barriers and promoting social justice through interpretation and translation. However, some interpreting professionals depicted activist communities of interpreters as being at odds with the field’s professional standards, mainly guided by codes of ethics and conduct. Where indeed these groups have been wanting to move away from the mere prescription of interpreting through codes of ethics and specific standards, I show all the same that such communities can benefit from these traditional values in their activist work. To do so, I conducted, through the lens of narrative theory, the case study of Respond Crisis Translation, a modern collective of activist translators and interpreters.