ABSTRACT
Politics is a paradigmatic example of Gallie’s “essentially contested concepts”, that is, concepts whose use involves a value judgement–other examples being art and democracy–and whose definition is consequently disputed. The notion of politics is fractured with oppositions and interactions at various levels–including regional, national and global; personal and collective; and hierarchy and equality. As a method of social analysis, Marxism is at the root of various political ideologies, most notably social democracy and communism. One of the key political concepts that developed in Europe during the eighteenth century was that of the nation, which contrasted with the less specifically defined contours of the political entities that constituted the Ottoman, Chinese and Austro-Hungarian empires. Translation is a double-edged practice as far as political structures are concerned. Borders are clearly political phenomena, and their intersection with language and translation policies deserves more attention from translation scholars.
