Babelfish Democracy? New Technologies and Multi-Lingual Participation

• In Event: Pluralism as a Democratic Commitment

Abstract

Translation and machine interpretation technologies have seen significant advances in recent years. In terms of the latter, a range of firms is now producing in-ear devices designed to instantaneously translate spoken language – akin to the miraculous ‘babelfish’ of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. This paper considers some implications for democratic practice in the pluralistic, multilingual polities which are the norm in a majority of states, and in suprastate regions. It begins with enduring claims that a genuinely participatory democratic practice is only possible in the native or national language of participants. It is argued that any stringent such claims for deliberation will be challenged as technology further advances. More fundamentally, a focus on deliberation among co-speakers elides important questions about fairly addressing problems that cross linguistic boundaries. A more instrumental approach to democracy is advocated, seeing democratic input primarily as a tool to promote fair rights specifications and protections. In such a framework, new technologies could be vital for enhancing the ability of non-elites to press their own interests across linguistic divides. Such a model would stand to better accommodate and respect pluralism than current ones focused on a common second language for political elites, e.g., in the European Union.

Author

• Luis Cabrera, Griffith University