Politics of Translation in International Relations

Description

This volume concerns the role and nature of translation in global politics. Through the establishment of trade routes, the encounter with the ‘New World’, and the circulation of concepts and norms across global space, meaning making and social connections have unfolded through practices of translating. While translation is core to international relations it has been relatively neglected in the discipline of International Relations. The Politics of Translation in International Relations remedies this neglect to suggest an understanding of translation that transcends language to encompass a broad range of recurrent social and political practices. The volume provides a wide variety of case studies, including financial regulation, gender training programs, and grassroot movements. Contributors situate the politics of translation in the theoretical and methodological landscape of International Relations, encompassing feminist theory, de- and post-colonial theory, hermeneutics, post-structuralism, critical constructivism, semiotics, conceptual history, actor-network theory and translation studies. The Politics of Translation in International Relations furthers and intensifies a cross-disciplinary dialogue on how translation makes international relations. Acknowledgements About the Book Contents Notes on Contributors Chapter 1: The Politics of Translation in International Relations Translation in International Relations Translation as Transformation Contributions: The Politics of Translation in International Relations References Part I: Translation and the Politics of (Disciplinary) Language Chapter 2: Gavagai? The International Politics of Translation Introduction Making Translation Unproblematic Quine on the Indeterminacy of Translation The Quest for Regularity as Quest for Certainty Politicising Translation Conclusion: The International Politics of Translation References Chapter 3: Conceptual Debates in IR and the Spectre of Polysemy: Intralingual Challenges and the Promise of Translation Introduction Preliminary Reflections on ‘Translation’ Translation as Transformation: Three Core Dimensions Hermeneutics and Translation The Multivocality of IR Meta-Theory The Path of Appropriation: The Agent-Structure Debate Acknowledgement Without Understanding: Debating ‘Ontology’ in IR Governing Polysemy: Jackson’s Meta-Theoretical Pluralism The Promise of a Translational Perspective for IR Meta-Theory References Chapter 4: Remaking the Law of Encounter: Comparative International Law as Transformative Translation Introduction Traditional Translation and International Law’s Claim to Universality Escaping the Westphalian Trap Remaking the Law of Encounter: Comparative International Law as Transformative Translation Comparative International Law as Transformative Translation in Practice Conclusion References Part II: Translating Across Fields of Practice Chapter 5: Fashioning the Other: Fashion as an Epistemology of Translation Introduction Heidegger on the World as Vor-stellung On (Not) Knowing the Other in IR The Politics of Translation Of Looking Glasses, Dreams and ‘China’ In Lieu of a Conclusion: The Politics of Fashioning Self and Other References Chapter 6: De/Colonising Through Translation? Rethinking the Politics of Translation in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda Introduction Feminist Knowledge Transfer in the WPS Agenda Translation as Transfer in Gender Training Beyond Translation as Transfer Decolonising the WPS Agenda Through Translation? Conclusion References Chapter 7: Translating Critique: Civil Society and the Politicisation of Financial Regulation Introduction: ‘The Critical Attitude’ Translation and Hierarchies of Knowledge Problematisation (1): ‘You can Explain Everything, Though Only Rarely Someone Cares’ Interessement (2): ‘Finance Watch is an Amazing Help’ Enrolment (3): ‘…We Are Working on It because It Was in the Commission’s Proposal’ Mobilisation (4): ‘At Some Point, It Will Always Crash Again’ Conclusion: Translating Critique References Chapter 8: Social Movements and Translation Introduction Brokers and Framing Processes in Social Movement Studies The Transformative Potential of Translation in Pro-Democracy and Solidarity Movements The Disruptive Third Voice of Political Translators: Domination and Positional Misunderstanding Inequality, Conflicts, and Political Translation in Social Movement Coalitions Positional Misunderstandings Based on Class, Racialised, or Gendered Hierarchies Conclusion: Civil-Society-Translation Capacities to Address Migration and Climate Change References Part III: Translating International Relations (IR) Chapter 9: English and the Legacy of Linguistic Domination in IR Introduction Decolonising International Relations Decolonising the Curriculum Can the Curriculum Really be ‘Decolonised’? The Issues of Identity Can the Curriculum Really be ‘Decolonised’? The Issues of Language Translating IR: Will It Help with Decolonisation? Whose Works Should Be Translated? Can Translation Capture Nuance? Concluding Remarks: Will More Non-European Voices Overthrow Eurocentrism? References Chapter 10: On the Power of Translation and the Translation of ‘Power’: A Translingual Concept Analysis Introduction Translating Concepts: Begriffsgeschichte Revisited From ‘Power’ to Powers: A Translingual Concept Analysis ‘Power’ and/in Waltz ‘Power(s)’ and/in the Chinese Edition of Theory of International Politics Conclusion References Chapter 11: Anarchy is What Translators Make of It? Translating Theory and Translation Theories Introduction The Problem of Equivalence Translating Anarchy Conclusion: Theory-Building and Translation as Rewriting References Part IV: Reflections Chapter 12: The Contingency of Translation Introduction The Social Ontology of Translation Space and Agency The Politics of Translation? References Chapter 13: On the ‘Does Theory Travel?’ Question: Traveling with Edward Said References Index