This chapter addresses several themes regarding the role of interdisciplinarity in translation/interpreting research; the relationship between approaches to translation research, on the one hand, and interpreting research on the other; and the relevance of norm theory to interpreting studies. It presents a view of interpreting activity as both a form of social action and social organisation and suggests that the particular communicative competencies that interpreters bring to their work are influenced by both the micro and macro features of the interpreting activity. It provides a discussion of the development of a framework for analysing the role of interpreters with respect to the norms and sources of the generation of norms from within the wider social structure. The chapter argues for the development of empirically-based research which addresses both the macro-social configurations of power and control in which interpreter practices are located and the possibilities for challenging or altering these practices in the context of local, interactional interpreting activities.