ABSTRACT
The first set of empirical data that I wish to present pertains to the translation of policy documents concerning local economic development (LED). I should point out here that the South African government itself has made the choice to use the term development in its economic policies. Thinking about this situation in complexity terms, it means that a particular development process is one set of constraints or enablers influencing translation. It also means that translation could be studied as a factor inhibiting or enhancing development, particularly local economic development. I thus conceptualize of translation as part of the substructure for the emergence of social reality, in this case local economic development. Simultaneously, I conceptualize of social reality, in particular local economic development, as a constraining and/or enabling factor in translation. In this chapter, I thus attempt to answer two questions: What is the role of translation in local economic development in a rural South African context (Donaldson & Mara is, 2012, pp. ix-xi; Hoogendoorn & Nel, 2012)? and What constraints do the development context place on translation in South Africa?
