Translation in the neoliberal era

Abstract

Translation in the neoliberal era Joss MoorkensThis chapter considers the impact of neoliberalism on translation as a profession, exacerbated by the global economic crisis of 2007/2008 and consequent policies of austerity adopted in many jurisdictions. Employment conditions for translators, as with the general trend, have moved towards a 'vendor model' of freelance and contingent work. For some translators this has given them more control over their working lives, whereas for others is has been disempowering as they struggle with speed and productivity demands, the unilateral imposition of technologies, and constant downward pressure on price. Translation technology has afforded the possibility of cutting costs by leveraging previous translations within editing environments and of training MT systems. However, for translators this technology has had a dual effect, with some tools foregrounding usability and others more focused on data gathering.The industry has taken an increasingly pragmatic view of product and process quality, prioritising shareholder returns rather than social quality for translators, as proposed by Abdallah, and long-term, sustainable thinking. This will probably need to change if it is to retain talent and to encourage new and potential entrants.

traducción jurídica ante el fenómeno de la (des)globalización. El impacto del desarrollo humano, las policrisis y la disrupción tecnológica en la provisión de servicios lingüísticos

“…Las contribuciones que editan Bielsa & Kapsaskis (2021) son, a ese respecto, esclarecedoras, con cuestiones que enlazan la traducción y la globalización que van desde el aumento de las desigualdades y el activismo al cambio climático, la traducción no profesional o el multilingüismo. Una de esas contribuciones es la de Moorkens (2021). El autor es claro en el debate sobre la traducción, la globalización y la economía: un contexto tan prometedor, donde las perspectivas macro son positivas y el volumen de traducción mundial no deja de crecer, habría de ser favorable al traductor.…”