[fse-esf] On behalf of The group of volunteer interpreters of the Istanbul ESF 2010

[Hilde L. Nylén]

Thank you for this email, Rodrigo,

I think you have full support from many of us - and I hope that someone from your group and/or Babels will be at the Paris EPA to discuss our strategies for the future of the ESF. I do not believe that we can have this discussion without you!



All the best,

Hilde Nylén
Attac Norway


 
Mennesker før profitt

www.attac.no



Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:53:34 +0200
From: rodrigogines at gmail.com
To: fse-esf at lists.fse-esf.org
Subject: [fse-esf] On behalf of The group of volunteer interpreters of the	Istanbul ESF 2010



Another interpretation is possible, and needed 




 

Despite the absence of the Babels network and the
disastrous experience in Malmö, a group of volunteer activist interpreters,
professionals and beginners, ventured to go to the ESF in Istanbul with high expectations for
grass-roots participation and the quality of communication. As at previous
events, chaos, ludicrous waste and disorganisation were the rule, confirming
our view that the ESF movement ignores the know-how and lessons learnt in the
past with regards to interpretation and its role. 



 

The huge waste of both financial and human resources
is our most alarming concern. Booths and interpreting equipment bought for
previous ESF events are rarely transferred or reused at other events, forcing
every new organising committee to invest a huge amount of money. By ignoring
the advice of experienced interpreters, the ESF movement has wasted valuable
resources in low-quality equipment, useless booths, radios that don’t work and
plane tickets for interpreters that end up working in the most precarious and
exhausting conditions an interpreter can imagine (up to 8 hours per day without
the necessary breaks). This resulted in a very frustrating experience for local
participants and interpreters as consecutive and whispering interpreting made
seminars and assemblies very long and hard to follow. Recurrent issues, such as
the struggle to get travel expenses reimbursed, the lack of communication with
the program group and the use of paid interpreters alongside volunteers,
undermined the morale of the participating interpreters. 



 

Being aware of the financial cost of bringing paid
interpreters (around half a million euros if we consider the amount of
interpreters involved in Istanbul),
we have tried to give advice and support to the ESF movement on such an unknown
issue as interpretation. However, EPAs are held without the presence of
interpreters or Babels members. What we have witnessed in the last 2 ESFs was
anything but encouraging. Babels, as the only linguistic movement directly
linked to the social fora, should have better communication with the organising
committees and should be involved in the preparation process from the very
beginning. Otherwise, the ESF will have trouble finding volunteer activist
interpreters for future events. Considering volunteer interpreters as mere
cheap service providers, instead of politically involved activists, has already
meant that many of our colleagues have lost the motivation to continue
supporting the movement.




 

The Charter of Porto Alegre speaks of inclusion, of
making sure that those "without a voice" get a chance to speak, of
breaking down the usual systems of power that prevail in the social movements,
where well-educated and rich activists from the "North" make up the
biggest part
of the movement for a different world. If
we have social fora where the only languages spoken are Western Colonial
languages, as was generally the case in Istanbul,
what is the use? We - the ones who speak French, or English, or Spanish - do not
need to go to the South to find out what François Houtard, Christophe Aguitton,
Bernad Cassen, Tariq Ramadan have to say... We can get that information right
here, in our countries. It would be interesting to hear what the tortured
youngsters of Diyarbakir
have to say about human rights in the post-9-11 age... The problem is that most
of them do not speak a "Western Colonial Language" well enough to be
able to speak in front of an audience. If the ESF wants to meet its own agenda
and objectives and to avoid repeating the same things over and over, the ESF
needs to take into account the issue of languages as tools of domination and
devote time and resources to this key matter. 



 

We are willing to continue supporting the ESF process.
We know there is a lot to be done concerning communication and knowledge
transfer before the fora. Interpretation should be discussed in different
groups and meetings so that the education process and the knowledge transfer
actually take place. For that purpose, we have drafted a detailed report with
recommendations for future events, hoping to learn from the past and to
guarantee the best possible interpretation in future fora. 

 

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=15dB4kTcpULrkuU97vM6HulFj77cc4uEMfhGwLWYDdrs 


  

and 

  

http://www.babels.org/wiki/SocialForumReinventingWheels




 

In solidarity, 


  

The group of volunteer interpreters of the Istanbul
ESF 2010 


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