Book reviewReview of . The Routledge Handbook of the Translation Industry (Routledge Handbooks in Translation and Interpreting Studies). New York and Abingdon: Routledge, 2026. xviii + 579 pp.
Publication history
Table of contents
The Routledge Handbook of the Translation Industry treats the translation industry not merely as the professional backdrop to translation, but as a distinct object of inquiry within Translation Studies. In doing so, it helps consolidate an area of research that has often remained dispersed across language-industry studies, localisation research, the sociology of professions, and technology-focused scholarship (Angelone, Ehrensberger-Dow, and Massey 2020; Kujamäki 2023). It also keeps translation itself more clearly at the centre of the discussion than broader overviews of the language industry tend to do (e.g., Massey, Ehrensberger-Dow, and Angelone 2024). A major strength of the handbook is its clear account of the actors, processes, and resources that shape the sector. At the same time, some of its broader arguments would have carried greater weight with fuller discussion of governance, labour, and the uneven distribution of industry practices across regions. The volume is therefore best understood as an agenda-setting intervention rather than a definitive synthesis.