Hanna Kara & Camilla Nordberg
This paper sets out to explore occupational boundaries in the context of public service interpreting with structurally vulnerable migrants. The paper is situated within the wider context of cultural and institutional transformations taking place in the Nordic welfare state which raise questions related to what kind of knowledge becomes valued and what kind of intersectional hierarchies are produced and maintained within a linguistically diversifying social service landscape. Drawing on conceptualisations of power and occupational (mis)recognition, we present the preliminary analysis of our ongoing research project. The data consist of written and oral diaries produced by interpreters in spring 2022. The research participants are of diverse professional and ethnic backgrounds and based in different urban and rural regions of Finland.
Keywords: public service interpreting, structural vulnerability, migrant service users, social work, Nordic welfare state.