Crowdsourced translation as immaterial labour: a netnographic study of Communities of Practice in the TED translation project

ABSTRACT

This article examines crowdsourced translation on TED.com – an initiative to disseminate general knowledge by producing TED Talks. Drawing on the Autonomist concept of immaterial labour and the theoretical model of Communities of Practice, it presents a critical analysis of participatory translation practices in the digital age, focusing on the relations between corporate actors and individual translation agents. By examining dynamics within communities of practice composed of translators on the TED platform, this study found that TED Translators provide immaterial labour as they help push forward both their individual goals and TED’s overall agenda, and both the practice of translation and communication processes among translators become sources of meaning making for translators to negotiate their identities. More importantly, this study identifies tensions caused by the top-down approach taken by TED to manage the self-organised translator communities. While the translators provide immaterial labour for intellectual enrichment, pleasure and meaning making instead of monetary rewards, the corporate approach taken by TED treats translation as a source of add-on value and undermines group dynamics in translator collectivities.

KEYWORDS:

• Crowdsourced translation
• immaterial labour
• communities of practice
• netnography
• digital capitalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. My two LC/LS participants are numbered as LC/LS₁ and LC/LS₂.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Boya Li

Boya Li received a master’s degree in Women’s Studies at the University of Ottawa where she later decided to pursue a PhD in Translation Studies. She has work, volunteer and research experience in translation, and her current doctoral project focuses on the intersection of Translation Studies, Communication and Media Studies, Sociology and Anthropology. Her research interests include the socio-economic aspect of online collaborative translation, translation crowdsourcing, women in translation, and online translator communities.