Our Colleagues at the Conference "Translation in / of World Politics: Language, Practices, Power"

January 17-18 2020 SOAS University of London together with BISA Interpretivism in International Relations Working Group has organized a conference "Translation in / of World Politics: Language, Practices, Power". HSE - St. Petersburg was represented there with a research project "Mistranslating Political Jokes (Symbolic Meaning of “Language Games” in Russian Official Discourse)" run by professor Sergei Akopov and our second year BA student Ekaterina Donskih.

The aim of the conference was to discuss translation as an intellectual and political practice in the ‘inter’ of international relations, focusing on its political nature and as part of politics, rather than merely a technical issue of communication. The participant meant to explore the transfer of political concepts and ideas from one context to another, their (non)-equivalence, the various practices of translation, role and power of the translators, and the possibilities and limits of translating/translation in world politics. 

We are thankful for the organizers, and particularly the convenors of Interpretivism in International Relations BISA Working Group Felix Berenskötter, Iain Ferguson, Evgeny Roshchin for a vibrant and well-organized scholarly event.