Lesson plan
Babels
Babels is an international network of volunteer interpreters and translators that was born out of the European Social Forum (ESF) process and whose main objective is to cover the interpreting needs of the various Social Forums. It is a horizontal, non-hierarchical network, with no permanent structures of any kind. Babels originated in the process of preparation for the 2002 ESF, a left-wing conference of the anti-globalization movement held in Florence. A small network of 'communication activists' associated with ATTAC France proposed that the conference use only volunteers to interpret the various languages of the speakers for the audience. There was some debate about the quality of volunteer translators but the cost of professionals helped sway the argument. A last-minute call went out for volunteers to which 600 people responded and which finally resulted in around 350 volunteer interpreters and translators for the Forum. The group had no official space to work from and little funds so had to squat a medieval tower. After the first ESF the organisers of the translation formed Babels groups in France and Italy and groups also sprang up in Germany, the UK, and Spain. These groups went on to participate in counter G8 conferences in Evian and Annemasse. For the second ESF in Paris organisers gave Babels £200,000 funding, offices facilities and a longer preparation period.…
Article summary
Babels is an international network of volunteer interpreters and translators that was born out of the European Social Forum (ESF) process and whose main objective is to cover the interpreting needs of the various Social Forums. It is a horizontal, non-hierarchical network, with no permanent structures of any kind. Babels originated in the process of preparation for the 2002 ESF, a left-wing conference of the anti-globalization movement held in Florence. A small network of 'communication activists' associated with ATTAC France proposed that the conference use only volunteers to interpret the various languages of the speakers for the audience. There was some debate about the quality of volunteer translators but the cost of professionals helped sway the argument. A last-minute call went out for volunteers to which 600 people responded and which finally resulted in around 350 volunteer interpreters and translators for the Forum. The group had no official space to work from and little funds so had to squat a medieval tower. After the first ESF the organisers of the translation formed Babels groups in France and Italy and groups also sprang up in Germany, the UK, and Spain. These groups went on to participate in counter G8 conferences in Evian and Annemasse. For the second ESF in Paris organisers gave Babels £200,000 funding, offices facilities and a longer preparation period.…
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.