Non-governmental organisations hold an important place in today’s globalised society. After presenting an overview of previous research on Translation and Interpreting Studies on language mediation in NGOs, this introduction to the special issue argues that more research into NGOs’ translation and interpreting practices and policies is required to better understand these organisations and their influence on global society. The introduction engages with what NGO practitioners and professional translators have said on current challenges in translating and interpreting in the context of NGOs, and what this implies for future research and training in Translation and Interpreting Studies. Lastly, it reflects on the use of interdisciplinary approaches to understanding NGOs as global organisations and discusses the contribution that Translation and Interpreting Studies could make to other disciplines that aim to gain new insights on these organisations.
Arranz de la Torre, Violeta. 2001. “Léxico Y Tenor En Documentos de ONG. Estudio de Un Caso ‘Híbrido’ Entre Las Convenciones Españolas Y Británicas: CUDECA.” Puentes 41: 43–54.
Baker, Mona. 2006. “Translation and Activism: Emerging Patterns of Narrative Community.” The Massachusetts Review 47(3): 462–84.
Baker, Mona. 2009. “Resisting State Terror: Theorizing Communities of Activist Translators and Interpreters.” In Globalization, Political Violence and Translation, edited by Esperanza Bielsa and Christopher W. Hughes, 222–42. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Banks, Nicola, David Hulme, and Michael Edwards. 2015. “NGOs, States, and Donors Revisited: Still Too Close for Comfort?” World Development 661: 707–18.
Bass, Stephen, and Barry Dalal-Clayton. 2002. Sustainable Development Strategies: A Resource Book. London: Routledge.
Boéri, Julie, and Carol Maier (eds). 2010. Translation/Interpreting and Social Activism / Compromiso Social Y Traducción/Interpretación. Granada: ECOS.
Bond. 2015a. Fast Forward: The Changing Role of UK- Based INGOs. London: Bond. Accessed March 20, 2018. [URL].
Bond. 2015b. Tomorrow’s World: How Might Megatrends in Development Affect the Future Roles of UK-Based INGOs? London: Bond. Accessed March 20, 2018. [URL].
Bujra, Janet. 2006. “Lost in Translation? The Use of Interpreters in Fieldwork.” In Doing Development Research, edited by Vandana Desai and Robert B. Potter, 172–79. London: Sage.
Byanyima, Winnie. 2015. “Oxfam International Signs Historic Deal to Move to Nairobi, Kenya.” Oxfam General Blog Channel. Accessed March 20, 2018. [URL].
Cao, Deborah, and Xingmin Zhao. 2008. “Translation at the United Nations as Specialized Translation.” Journal of Specialised Translation 91: 39–54.
Carolei, Domenico. 2018. “How Is Oxfam Being Held Accountable over the Haiti Scandal?” London School of Economics and Political Science Blog. Accessed March 20, 2018. [URL].
Castells, Manuel. 2000. The Rise of the Network Society. The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Volume 1. 2nd ed. Malden; Oxford: Blackwell.
Chambers, Robert. 1983. Rural Development: Putting The Last First. London: Longman.
Chambers, Robert. 1997. Whose Reality Counts? Putting The First Last. London: ITDG Publishing.
CIVICUS. 2017. State of Civil Society Report. Accessed March 20, 2018. [URL].
Codó, Eva, and Maria Rosa Garrido. 2010. “Ideologies and Practices of Multilingualism in Bureaucratic and Legal Advice Encounters.” Sociolinguistic Studies 4(2): 297–332.
Cornwall, Andrea, and Eade, Deborah (eds). (2010). Deconstructing Development Discourse: Buzzwords and Fuzzwords. Rugby: Practical Action Publishing with Oxfam GB.
Crack, Angela. 2014. Do NGOs Need a Languages Policy? Accessed March 20, 2018. [URL].
Crack, Angela. 2018. “The Oxfam Scandal Has Taught Us There Is No Reward for Honest Charities.” The Guardian, March16. Accessed March 20, 2018. [URL].
Crack, Angela Maria. 2013. “Language, Listening and Learning: Critically Reflective Accountability for INGOs.” International Review of Administrative Sciences 79(4): 809–28.
Cronin, Michael. 2003. Translation and Globalization. London and New York: Routledge.
Davies, Tom. 2014. NGOs: A New History of Transnational Civil Society. New York: Oxford University Press.
Dijkzeul, Dennis. 2008. “Transnational Humanitarian NGOs? A Progress Report.” In Rethinking Transnationalism: The Meso-Link of Organisations, edited by Ludger Pries, 81–103. Abingdon: Routledge.
Duchêne, Alexandre, and Monica Heller (eds). 2012. Language in Late Capitalism: Pride and Profit. New York and Abingdon: Routledge.
Evrin, Feyza, and Bernd Meyer (eds). 2016. Non-Professional Interpreting and Translation: Translational Cultures in Focus. Special Issue of The European Journal of Applied Linguistics 4(1).
Fierke, Karin Marie. 2003. “Breaking the Silence: Language and Method in International Relations.” In Language, Agency, and Politics in a Constructed World, edited by Francois Debrix, 66–86. Abingdon and New York: Routledge.
Footitt, Hilary. 2017. “International Aid and Development: Hearing Multilingualism, Learning from Intercultural Encounters in the History of OxfamGB.” Language and Intercultural Communication 17(4): 518–33.
Footitt, Hilary, and Michael Kelly (eds). 2012. Languages at War: Policies and Practices of Language Contacts in Conflict. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Fowler, Alan, and Chiku Malunga (eds). 2010. NGO Management: The Earthscan Companion. London: Earthscan.
Gal, Susan, Julia Kowalski, and Erin Moore. 2015. “Rethinking Translation in Feminist NGOs: Rights and Empowerment Across Borders.” Social Politics 22(4): 610–35.
Gambier, Yves. 2007. “Réseaux de Traducteurs/interprètes Bénévoles.” META 52(4): 658–72.
Garrido, Maria Rosa. 2017. “Multilingualism and Cosmopolitanism in the Construction of a Humanitarian Elite.” Social Semiotics 27(3): 359–69.
Ghandour-Demiri, Nada. 2017. Language and Comprehension Barriers in Greece’s Migration Crisis. Translators Without Borders.
Guidère, Mathieu (ed). 2010. Traduction et Médiation Humanitaire. Paris: Le Manuscrit.
Guidère, Mathieu. 2011. “La Médiation Humanitaire Multilingue : Un Discours Pour La Paix.” Revue Française de Linguistique Appliquée XVI(1): 51–62.
Guillaume, Astrid. 2010. “La traduction au service des ONG.” Hermès 56(1): 83–89.
Hayman, Rachel, Sophie King, Tiina Kontinen, and Lata Narayanaswamy (eds). 2016. Negotiating Knowledge: Evidence and Experience in Development NGOs. Rugby: Practical Action Publishing.
Hilhorst, Dorothea. 2018. “Aid Agencies Can’t Police Themselves. It’s Time for a Change.” IRIN News. Accessed March 20, 2018. [URL].
Holcombe, Sarah. 2015. “The Revealing Processes of Interpretation: Translating Human Rights Principles into Pintupi-Luritja.” TAJA: The Australian Journal of Anthropology 261: 428–41.
Kahn, Emmanuel, and Monica Heller. 2006. “Idéologies et pratiques du multilinguisme au Québec. Luttes et mutations dans un site de la nouvelle économie.” Langage et Société 118(4): 43–63.
Kang, Ji-Hae. 2014. “Institutions Translated: Discourse, Identity and Power in Institutional Mediation.” Perspectives 220(4): 469–78.
Koskinen, Kaisa. 2008. Translating Institutions: An Ethnographic Study of EU Translation. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Lehtovaara, Heini. 2009. Working in Four Official Languages: The Perceptions of OGB Employees on the Role of Language in Internal Communication. Masters Thesis, Helsinki School of Economics.
Lewis, David. 2014. Non-Governmental Organizations, Management and Development. 3rd ed. Abingdon and New York: Routledge.
Maclean, Kate. 2007. “Translation in Cross-Cultural Research: An Example from Bolivia.” Development in Practice 17(6): 784–90.
Marais, Kobus. 2014. Translation Theory and Development Studies: A Complexity Theory Approach. New York & Abingdon: Routledge.
McCall, Elizabeth. 2011. Communciation for Development: Strenthening the Effectiveness of the United Nations. New York: United Nations Development Programme.
McGann, James, and Mary Johnstone. 2005. “The Power Shift and the NGO Credibility Crisis.” The Brown Journal of World Affairs 11(2): 159–72.
McGrew, Anthony, and David Held (eds). 2002. Governing Globalization: Power, Authority and Global Governance. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Merry, Sally Engle. 2006a. Human Rights and Gender Violence: Translating International Law into Local Justice. Chicago: Chicago Series in Law and Society.
Merry, Sally Engle. 2006b. “Transnational Human Rights and Local Activism: Mapping the Middle.” American Anthropologist 108(1): 38–51.
Merry, Sally Engle, and Summer Wood. 2015. “Quantification and the Paradox of Measurement.” Current Anthropology 56 (2): 205–29.
Meylaerts, Reine. 2017. “Studying Language and Translation Policies in Belgium: What Can We Learn from a Complexity Theory Approach?” Parallèles 29(1): 45–59.
Moorehead, Joanna, and Joe Sandler Clark. 2015. “Big NGOs Prepare to Move South, but Will It Make a Difference?” The Guardian, November16. Accessed March 20, 2018. [URL].
Pérez-González, Luis, and Şebnem Susam-Saraeva (eds). 2012. Non-Professionals Translating and Interpreting. Participatory and Engaged Perspectives. Special Issue of The Translator 18(2).
Pujolar, Joan. 2007. “Bilingualism and the Nation-State in the Post-National Era.” In Bilingualism: A Social Approach, edited by Monica Heller, 71–95. London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pym, Anthony. 2008. “Translation vs. Language Learning in International Institutions: Explaining the Diversity Paradox.” Cultus: The Journal of Intercultural Mediation and Communication 1(1): 70–83.
Rampton, Ben, Janet Maybin, and Celia Roberts. 2015. “Theory and Method in Linguistic Ethnography.” In Linguistic Ethnography: Interdisciplinary Explorations, edited by Julia Snell, Sara Shaw, and Fiona Copland, 14–50. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Schäffner, Christina. 2001. “Translation and the EU: Conditions and Consequences.” Perspectives 9(4): 247–61.
Schäffner, Christina, Luciana Sabina Tcaciuc, and Wine Tesseur. 2014. “Translation Practices in Political Institutions: A Comparison of National, Supranational, and Non-Governmental Organisations.” Perspectives 22(4): 493–510.
Smedley, Tim. 2014. “Shifting Sands : The Changing Landscape for International NGOs.” The Guardian, March28. Accessed March 20, 2018. [URL].
Suzuki, Naoki. 1998. Inside NGOs: Managing Conflicts Between Headquarters and the Field Offices in Non-Governmental Organizations. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
Taibi, Mustapha, and Uldis Ozolins. 2016. Community Translation. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Tcaciuc, Luciana Sabina, and Vladislav Mackevic. 2017. “Translators’ Agency in Translating Economic Metaphors in European Union Institutions: The Case of the European Central Bank Translators ’ Agency in Translating Economic Metaphors in European Union Institutions : The Case of the European Central.” Perspectives 25(3): 417–433.
Tesseur, Wine. 2014. Transformation through Translation: Translation Policies at Amnesty International. Unpublished PhD thesis, Aston University.
Tesseur, Wine. 2015. Report: Round Table Translation Policies at NGOs. Accessed April 3, 2018. [URL].
Tesseur, Wine. 2017a. “Incorporating Translation into Sociolinguistic Research: Translation Policy in an International Non-Governmental Organisation.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 21(5): 629–49.
Tipton, Rebecca. 2017. “Interpreting-as-Conflict: PSIT in Third Sector Organisations and the Impact of Third Way Politics.” In Ideology, Ethics and Policy Development in Public Service Interpreting and Translation, edited by Carmen Valero-Garcés and Rebbecca Tipton, 38–62. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Tosi, Arturo, ed. 2003. Crossing Barriers and Bridging Cultures: The Challenges of Multilingual Translation for the European Union. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Union of International Associations (ed). 2014. Yearbook of International Organizations 2014–2015. Volume 5: Statistics, Visualizations and Patterns. Leiden and Boston: Brill and Martinus Nijhoff.
United Nations. 2015. Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25September 2015. Index: A/RES/70/1.
Valero-Garcés, Carmen, and Rebecca Tipton (eds). 2017. Ideology, Ethics and Policy Development in Public Service Interpreting and Translation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Valero Garcés, Carmen, and Lenuta Cata. 2006. “Acción Y Voluntariado. Las ONG Y Los Servicios de Traducción E Interpretación.” Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada 191: 49–60.
Wallace, Tina, Lisa Bornstein, and Jennifer Chapman. 2007. The Aid Chain: Coercion and Commitment in Development NGOs. Rugby: Practical Action Publishing.
Willetts, Peter. 2011. Non-Governmental Organizations in World Politics. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
World Bank. 1998. World Development Report 1998/1999: Knowledge for Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2024. Training third sector workers to communicate effectively through interpreters: the MELINCO project training course. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 18:1 ► pp. 114 ff.
Pomerleau, Marc & Esmaeil Kalantari
2023. La traduction d’affiches électorales : enquête auprès de l’électorat québécois. Meta 67:2 ► pp. 356 ff.
Frings‐Hessami, Viviane & Gillian Oliver
2022. Clashes of cultures in an international aid organisation: Information cultures, languages and the use of information systems. Journal of International Development 34:7 ► pp. 1414 ff.
Ruiz Rosendo, Lucía & Maura Radicioni
2022. Humanitarian Interpreting in the Age of COVID-19. In Translation and Interpreting in the Age of COVID-19 [Corpora and Intercultural Studies, 9], ► pp. 165 ff.
Todorova, Marija
2022. The role of translation in environmental protection: an inclusive approach. The Translator 28:4 ► pp. 415 ff.
Heywood, Emma & Sue-Ann Harding
2021. “If you’ve done a good job, it’s as if you’ve never existed”: Translators on translation in development projects in the Sahel. Translation Studies 14:1 ► pp. 18 ff.
2020. Translators and Interpreters in Development. In Development NGOs and Languages, ► pp. 101 ff.
Muñoz Gómez, Estefanía
2020. Non-professional translation in an Irish business setting: Considerations for global theory and national policy. Translation Studies 13:2 ► pp. 197 ff.
Radicioni, Maura
2020. Cultural Differences in Interpreter-Mediated Medical Encounters in Complex Humanitarian Settings. In Handbook of Research on Medical Interpreting [Advances in Medical Diagnosis, Treatment, and Care, ], ► pp. 165 ff.
Radicioni, Maura
2021. Interpreter-Mediated Encounters in Complex Humanitarian Settings: Language and Cultural Mediation at Emergency ONG Onlus. In Interpreting Conflict, ► pp. 229 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 19 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.