Lambert, J and Walker, C orcid.org/0000-0001-7949-5621 (2022) Because We’re Worth It: Disentangling freelance translation, status, and rate-setting in the United Kingdom. Translation Spaces: A multidisciplinary, multimedia, and multilingual journal of translation. ISSN 2211-3711
Abstract
Rate-setting is a problematic area for newcomers to translation and established practitioners alike. Survey data generally support the view that translators feel underpaid and that money matters remain a chief ethical and pragmatic concern, but appropriate guidance is almost entirely absent from introductory textbooks on the translation profession and documentation prepared by industry associations remains unsatisfactory. Focusing on the translation industry in the United Kingdom, this conceptual paper explores constraints that limit price formation practices, and argues that translators feel under threat from disruptive technologies, Uberisation, and non-professional translation, now more than ever. We explore the complex interaction between status, internal and external perceptions, and regulation, and illustrate their push-pull relationship with rate-setting within a range of industry ‘educators’, uncovering the ways in which translators themselves, translation associations, and academic institutions directly and indirectly impact upon rate-setting practices. The article concludes by considering potential channels to buoy status and improve rate-setting practices in the translation industry.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © John Benjamins Publishing Company. This is an author produced version of an article published in Translation Spaces . Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | income ; status ; Uberisation ; professionalisation ; freelance translation ; translation industry ; translation rates ; translation profession |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Languages Cultures & Societies (Leeds) > Translation Studies (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 15 Jul 2022 15:05 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 23:02 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | John Benjamins Publishing |
Identification Number: | 10.1075/ts.21030.lam |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:188849 |