Exploring the influence of EU institutions on remote interpreting: A practice-based epistemological perspective

Using a practice-based epistemology, this chapter examines how the practices and discourses of EU institutions contribute to the dynamic negotiation, acceptance, and often contestation of circulating knowledge about remote interpreting (RI). Selected analytical examples from available textual documents and web pages by the Directorate-General for Interpretation at the European Commission (DG SCIC) and the Directorate-General for Logistics and Interpretation for Conferences at the European Parliament (DG LINC), along with other relevant entities such as the AIIC, shed light on the institutional framing of remote interpreting practices, specifically regarding environmental and financial sustainability, quality and working conditions, and norms of technology use. This chapter contributes a practice-based understanding of how institutionally-driven concepts of RI circulate and extend, albeit not without struggle. It suggests that the way RI is intertwined with the actions, discussions, and objectives of EU institutional bodies vis-à-vis relevant stakeholders, including interpreters, has implications for the current and future sociomaterial framing of the practice.