Review of book: Translation and community, by M, Taibi

Mustapha Taibi's Translation and Community (2024), part of the Routledge Introductions to Translation and Interpreting series, stands as a comprehensive and practice-oriented textbook that redefines the role of translation in community settings.It responds to a growing need in multilingual societies for ethically guided, accessible, and inclusive communication between institutions and linguistically minoritized populations.This pedagogically rich volume, consisting of eleven chapters, bridges functionalist translation theory with real-world application, firmly situating community translation within broader discourses of social justice, agency, and access.Taibi begins the volume in Chapter 1 by establishing community translation as a distinct and socially embedded field.He positions it not as a sub-branch of general translation but as a unique practice characterised by its service to local, multilingual publics-particularly migrants, refugees, and low-literacy populations.Drawing on Skopos theory and user-centred frameworks, he articulates the social mission of community translation: to make public discourse functionally accessible.A key contribution here is the introduction of a four-tier quality assurance framework involving societal structures, institutional cooperation, translation practices, and posttranslation feedback.Taibi also highlights the risks posed by non-professional translation in high-stakes scenarios, calling for institutional support and professional training.Chapter 2 elaborates on the translator's professional identity, dismantling the reductionist view of translators as neutral linguistic intermediaries.Instead, community translators are framed as intercultural mediators, social agents, and ethically aware professionals operating within asymmetrical power dynamics.Taibi underscores the importance of reflexivity, cultural literacy, and the ability to balance institutional imperatives with audience needs.Notably, he differentiates community translation from activist translation, arguing that while the former is often institutionally embedded, it nonetheless carries a social justice ethos, especially when