Translational State Power

Managing Interpreters to Make Asylum Seekers Talk in the French Asylum Bureaucracy

Bibliographic Data

ID6452065
AuthorsMaxime Maréchal (0000-0003-1447-4277, Université Paris Cité Institut Convergences Migrations Paris France, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume59
Issue4
Pages637-645
Publication date2025-01-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Policy and Administration (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0144-5596 • E-ISSN: 1467-9515
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/spol.13121
OpenAlexW4406546650
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited53

This article highlights the translational state power at work in the adjudication of asylum, to analyse the conditions in which asylum officials hear asylum seekers' narratives thanks to the intervention of subordinated interpreters. The provision of language interpreting is shaped by managerial objectives of bureaucratic efficiency which creates the illusion of a transparent translation, both semantically and politically, to ground the legitimacy of the procedure. By analysing the management of interpreters and their practical margins, this contribution shows that language interpreting is a major stake in the implementation of asylum policies and constitutes a crucial dimension of the power of the state over asylum seekers

Adjudication · Bureaucracy · Interpreter · Legitimacy · Linguistics · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Public relations · Refugee · Sociology · State (computer science · Computer Science · Healthcare Systems and Practices · Law · Migration, Identity, and Health · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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