Citation

Rajaram N, Zararia VAISHALI. Glob. Netw. 2009; 9(4): 462-484.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1471-0374.2009.00264.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this article we analyse the translation of global women's rights ideas in a local context, based on an ethnographic study of three women's organizations from Baroda, Gujarat state, India. On a macro-level, the local social and cultural norms, the development context, and the nature and role of the state strongly shaped the translation process. Micro processes of translation depend on the organization's core activity, the actors who direct the translation and where they are culturally anchored. Translation involves meaning-making, which consists of several simultaneous processes, including recuperation, hybridization, simplification and compartmentalization. The direction of the translation process is not linear, but resembles a spiral with ideas moving from global to local to global. Lastly, there are different types of translators, including converters, generators, conveyers, adaptors and transformers.