EN - Interpreters and translators as political partners

[ljesover]

Dear all,

We are concerned about the political evolution of Babels within the new political forms and evolution Social Forum are taking.

This is a proposal we would like to make in order to incorporate it with the Babels Charter expressing therefore our common vision of what we are aiming at together with our differences.

This manifesto is clearly a positive expression to answer an increasing risk of intitutionalization and old habits that will in the near future jeopardize our projects together: The use of closed and private mailinglists and not the Babels Forum, regional 'coordinations' and not project orientated ones, institutionalization of 'coordinators' and 'interpreters' and not volunteers sharing responsibility and information together, and so on.

We hope that this manifesto will meet your concern and express our goals.

Jose Arconada, Constance Boris, Yan Brailowsky, Thanasis Chrysos, Bettina Gertum Becker, Laurent Jesover, Gabriela Punto Arnao, Monica Salom, Gregoire Seither.

- We publish a first version of it here


MANIFESTO

Interpreters and translators as political partners in Social Forums

As volunteers of the Babels network we would like to underline several changes occurring in multilingual communication and exchange of ideas. This evolution was made possible through the process of the Social Forum because it was created by the dynamics of the Social Forums. As Babels volunteers, and as part of an organized group of activists within various Social Forums, we support these changes and wish them to go even further.

Our experiences of the first two World Social Forums as interpreters or translators (volunteers or otherwise), as alternate media activists or as delegates, made us realize the importance of languages in an ongoing effort to create new political spaces. It became obvious that languages were not only a way to communicate, but that they are, in themselves, an expression of political alternatives.

Languages are not only about transmitting ideas, but are also the cradle for new ideas. This is why we push for the presence of a much larger number of languages in Social Forums, allowing more and different people to express themselves and participate in the debates. Since the creation of Babels, the Social Forums have increased the number of languages with interpretation from 4 to over 15 different languages. This, in turn, has allowed more people to participate, and not only the fortunate intellectuals and activists who have been trained to speak and to understand neo-colonial languages.

Babels has also fought to increase the number of spaces in which international communication can take place. Interpretation must be provided wherever it is needed, from large conference rooms to areas where small groups of people meet to exchange ideas, to articulate movements, and to propose concrete actions. Big events are as important as small workshops, where grassroots activists meet to discuss the issues they are concerned with.

For these reasons, Babels does not have a client/employer relationship with the Social Forums: Babels is a political partner which is part of the Social Forum process itself, and Babels has the same standing as any other participating organization, network or social movement that take part in the Social Forums.

Involving volunteers in Social Forums is therefore for Babels to get involved and to participate at all levels. The joint work of the volunteers and trained experts (whether professionals, retired professionals or non-professionals) and skilled people (whether translation students, bilingual activists, and so on…) is a conscious choice. The quality of interpreting and translating in social forums is also linked to the commitment of the volunteers through collaboration and cooperation inside and outside Babels.

If Babels is a virtual network which takes a concrete form when 500 to 700 volunteers gather at a Social Forum, it is also a communication network able to share with everyone the decision-making process, including in this way a large diversity of views in various different projects, as well as apparent contradictions. The set of tools Babels uses, which strive to create open meeting spaces build a legacy from which volunteers taking new responsibilities can find some inspiration.

Babels organizes itself around people willing to take the responsibility of building a project for a predetermined period of time with a team of volunteers who are all on the same footing.

Babels organizes itself around projects, most of them linked with on-going Social Forums.

Babels, just like the Social Forums, is a process and not a set of recipes.

The organization process is based on autonomy and shared responsibility. The processes are open and built on consensus and horizontality. This means that no one represents Babels or that no one can speak or sign documents other than as a member to the network. This means that there is not an institutionalized group of "experienced people" or "coordinators", nor pre-established rules or recipes that have to be followed from one project to the next. New teams should take responsibility in agreement with the evolution of the political organization of each Social Forum, and solutions are never to be found outside of each new context.

Babels is a new political project in itself as it has no representative, and no permanent form of organization. Older forms of organizing such as NGOs, unions or even previously existing networks often take the forum of lobbyism or power struggles. But these forms cannot apply to Babels which is an international collaborative project in which transparency, horizontality and cooperation are key, all in order to make true the political ideal of the Social Forums as "open spaces for debates leading to actions".

[monica]

FR
Serait-il possible de faire une traduction à l`ES,FR et PT,et pourquoi pas l´AR et le grec afin de faire circuler le MAnifiesto?Il est absolument necessaire dû les FSM 2006 et les nouveaux organisateurs.
EN
We need the Manifiesto,s translation in EN,FR,and SP,and why not AR and Greek,because of the next FSM 2006. and the new people involved.

[Titi_poa]

Ok... somos uma rede... sobrevivemos de encontros virtuais, de horizontalidade, de não representatividade, de listas de e-mail e projetos.
Só que eu gostaria de saber uma coisa: Quanto tempo mais Babels sobreviverá proporcionando a interpretação de baixa qualidade que apresentamos em Mumbai e POA?
Nossa horizontalidade gerou um verdadeiro caos. Um grupo de pessoas detinha grande parte das informações, fossem elas boas ou ruins, enquanto uma grande massa buscava desesperadamente alguém para ter como referencia ou até mesmo como culpado.
Horizontalidade não pode ser confundida com irresponsabilidade.
Não sou fundador de Babels, tampouco escrevi sua carta de princípios. Porém quando ingressei na rede aceitei esta carta. Contudo, isso não significa que Babels não tenha que evoluir.
Babels cresceu... e DEVE mudar.
A realidade Latino Americana é completamente diferente da realidade européia. Temos outras necessidade e características. E Babels deve adaptar-se a esta realidade.
A carta de princípios de Babels deve ser um norte, um barco que nos conduza a um mundo diferente, e não uma prisão, que nos reprima e não nos permita evoluir a ponto de cumprirmos aquele que é nosso real objetivo: Proporcionar liberdade de expressão as pessoas!
Não sou contrário a este manifesto, acredito em muitos dos princípios nele expostos, porém acho que é uma decisão perigosa.
Babels esta passando por um processo extremamente maléfico, de bipolarização.
Não existe lado bom, ou ruim, apenas lados diferentes. Concepções diferentes geradas por experiências de vida e culturas diferenciadas. Bruxa Malvada e Branca de Neve só existem na Disney, o que temos aqui é um processo de evolução política complexo e demorado, porém pelo qual teremos que passar cedo ou tarde.
Creio que o manifesto não foi a melhor forma de lidar com esta situação, já que ele apenas acirra esta disputa.
Disputa esta que teve como ponto culminante o fato ocorrido durante a tentativa de enviar um bebelito a Havana, para a reunião do CH. Nesta ocasião dois lados agiram deliberadamente, houve um problema de comunicação e interpretação e todos saímos feridos e prejudicados, não só não foi enviado nenhum babelito a Havana, como ainda gerou-se um clima de conspiração de ambos os lados.
Agora é hora de juntarmos os pedaços, e não de criarmos mais um problema.
Babels precisa mais do que apenas militantes, ativistas ou voluntários. Precisa-se de organização. Se esta organização vai ser horizontal ou vertical, se vamos ter representantes ou não, se faremos organizações regionais ou não, isso deverá ser discutido. O que não podemos mais é fugir desta discussão.
Precisamos reavaliar o papel que temos realizado nos eventos sociais que participamos. Afinal, estamos contribuindo para um mundo melhor, ou gerando caos e desorganização?
Meu ramo é Comunicação Social, e aprendi que uma comunicação mão feita ou direcionada é muita mais prejudicial que nenhuma comunicação. Um jornal que nos apresenta meias verdades, ou com textos e pautas extremamente direcionados causa mais danos a uma comunidade do que não ter nenhum jornal.
É hora de reavaliar nossas prioridades, em respeito aos próprios voluntários, mas principalmente em respeito as pessoas que confiam em nosso trabalho (que não são muitas devido as ultimas experiências de Babels).

Beijos a todos
Tiago Santos
POA

[Titi_poa]

I´m sorry I´m really out of time, couldo someone please make the translation of my post to english?
Thanks!

Kisses to all
Tiago
POA