In the second half of the twentieth century, multilateral organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank promoted the idea of using donor-funded programs to improve the lives of people around the world with development aid. Since then, irrespective of how development is defined, researchers agree that it is a political term that implies positions of power regarding who makes the decisions and sets priorities for the distribution of aid (Banerjee, 2003). An aspect of development, that has received a general consensus is that the language used has power over how development is conceptualized, which in turn directs actions (Crush, 1995; Escobar, 1995). However, translation has so far rarely been considered as crucial to development work. In a sector which would be unable to operate without translation (Sanz Martins, 2018), and despite the interest into the role that language plays in development (Cornwall, 2007; Cornwall & Eade 2010; Anderson, Brown & Jean 2012), the first attempt to connect translation studies with development studies has only been made within the past decade (Marais, 2013; Footitt, 2017; Delgado Luchner, 2018; Todorova, 2019). Some of the issues pertinent to Development Studies have been examined in more detail, such as translation practices in international organizations, and crises translation and conflict related interpreting. More...

Selected papers will be submitted to a double-blind peer review as requested by LANS.  

Practical information and deadlines

Proposals: Please submit abstracts of approximately 500 words, including relevant references (not included in the word count), to both Marija Todorova (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Kobus Marais (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Abstract deadline: 1 May 2021

Acceptance of abstract proposals: 1 July 2021

Submission of papers: 1 December 2021

Acceptance of papers: 28 February 2022

Submission of final versions of papers: 1 June 2022

Editorial work (proofreading, APA, layout): June-November 2022

Publication: December 2022