In this paper, the author offers a case study of the interpreting policy of Babels in the Athens European Social Forum, in particular the process of mobilisation of volunteer interpreters and call for a socio-political approach to conference interpreting. After giving a brief account of the emergence of the Babels network in the context of the Social Forum initiative, the author examines the language and interpreting policy of the Athens European Social Forum in which she was involved as a member of Babels-el (Babels-Greece) and the mobilisation process that ensued. She then reflects upon the tension in Babels between the need to mobilise an important number of volunteer interpreters, particularly in “minoritised” languages, and the conventional conceptualisation of conference interpreting that prevails in the field, as well as the socio-political factors that underpin this tension.