The theme of the IATIS 2012 conference is: ‘Translation and the Politics of Recognition’. This may be interpreted in a broad manner, embracing such topics as globalisation, cultural encounter, intercultural relations and conflict.

Related thematic areas include, but are not limited to, the following:

• the crisis in models of multiculturalism and integrationism;
• the role of translation in terms of conflict resolution, mediation and reporting;
• covert censorship - mediated manipulations and the role of the translator / interpreter;
• cultural translation between ethnic groups, particularly majoritarian and minoritarian;
• translation, minorities, and language rights;
• translation, public memory and memorialisation;
• the translator / interpreter as cultural broker in a transnational world;
• intercultural relations and their political impact;
• interaction between the cultures of 'large' and 'small' nations;
• the role of literary translation in challenging or reinforcing cultural difference;
• transnational media and their role in facilitating, or discouraging, intercultural understanding;
• translation/interpreting and its politics;
• translation/interpreting and its ethics;
• translation and the contesting of nationalist narratives;
• recognition of the translator in technologised workflows;
• the identity of the translator/the translator’s multiple identities.