The above case studies present the ways the various signalling mechanisms interact in different countries. Behind the synchronic regional variation, it is possible to see translators gaining status in a general historical process, which plays out in different ways in different situations. To understand that general historical process, we turn to the sociology of professions, and more particularly to various models of diachronic professionalisation.

Most of the models have historically been based on professions in the United States, and the most relevant applications to the general field of translation are actually from the greater China region (Tseng 1992, Ju 2009, Chan 2012) and the United States (Witter-Merithew and Johnson 2004), in both cases with reference to interpreters. Here we review the models and the applications, then we attempt to adapt them to the recent history of translators in Europe.

Models of Professionalisation

Professionalisation can be understood as the process whereby occupations seek to upgrade their status by adopting organisational and occupational attributes and traits (US National Center for Education Statistics 1997). As early as 1928, Carr-Saunders defined professionalism (later more commonly referred to as “professionalisation”) as “specialized skill and training, minimum fees or salaries, formation of professional organizations, and code of ethics governing professional practices” (1928: 8).