Translation, Ethics and Social Responsibility

This introduction to The Translator special issue on Translation, Ethics and Social Responsibility argues the need for the interpreting and translation professions, and for Interpreting and Translation Studies, to engage with the important modern focus on social responsibility. Social responsibility is increasingly a key issue in all professions, but we contend that it has been under-explored thus far in both professional and academic contexts in relation to interpreting and translation. At a time of significant political, social and technological change, interpreters and translators face many new challenges, and considering social responsibility can provide helpful insights and strategies to cope with these. However, research on social responsibility has been dominated thus far by a focus on corporate contexts; the interpreting and translation professions are distinct from this paradigm in a number of important ways. We propose that the theme of social responsibility is ripe for exploration in relation to our discipline.