Hierarchical vs. horizontal political translation in post-15M Spain

The political and cultural atmosphere that emerged in Spain after the 15M movement was decisively shaped by translation practices, as evident in the high number of translations released by politically committed publishers, the visibility and status of translated intellectuals—such as Silvia Federici and David Harvey—, and the adoption of political concepts such as comunes and cuidados that have been shaped through complex processes of translation. Translation has also been used as a political concept by left-wing activists and political representatives, notably Podemos and other political groups. In this context, this article distinguishes between acts of hierarchical and horizontal political translation. Both proceed from a similar point of departure: the language of mainstream politics and the language of the majority of society are so profoundly disconnected that any meaningful interaction between them has to rely on practices of translation. Each of these practices involves a very different conception of politics, particularly at an epistemological level: while hierarchical translation deploys a more refined version of the traditional model of expertise, horizontal translation seems to favor a more egalitarian understanding of knowledge. A synopsis of this article can be found here.