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Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

\\\"ayuntamientos del cambio\\\"

English translation:

\"(city) councils of change\"/\"for change\"

Added to glossary by Karen Vincent-Jones (X)
Dec 6, 2018 12:58
5 yrs ago
Spanish term

\"ayuntamientos del cambio\"

Spanish to English Social Sciences Government / Politics Academic article on the Spanish left
La experiencia de los ayuntamientos del cambio ha sido positiva. Para empezar, han impuesto un estilo de gestión más decente y cercano que contrasta con la corrupción clientelar y el despilfarro especulativo de los anteriores gobiernos.
This section of the article deals with attempts to make progressive political changes at municipal level that have been successful in the case of many large cities in Spain.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +3 "(city) councils of change"
4 +1 Local authorities backing (the) change
4 game-changing local authorities

Discussion

Sara Fairen Dec 7, 2018:
The main problem with political slogans is that they have to be short, sharp and to the point. So long as they are catchy, grammatical correctness seems to be considered somewhat secondary. This might work for the original expression, but obviously poses a problem for translators when trying to convey its meaning accurately (there is a very clear example of this in the now famous “Make America Great Again”). In any case, I think “councils of change” is appropriate in that it implies not just that the councils (and in this case I would shy away from the word ‘authority’) support/back/advocate for change, which of course they do, but also that they are change themselves (for a start, none of the elected mayors is a traditional politician). But of course, an alternative could be to leave the expression in Spanish as philgoddard suggested, with a better/longer explanation included in brackets.
Andy Watkinson Dec 7, 2018:
Whichever version is finally used, I'd go with Charles' suggestion of "for" rather than "of".

They stand "for" change.
Chema Nieto Castañón Dec 6, 2018:
@James I fully understand your point and I basically agree with you. In fact, as said, I'd also go with something along the line of neilmac's answer; city councils backing change. I hope I did not suggest that the translation should be a literal one! And yet game-changers would be a fine description of what is going on in this cities but not something that Podemos would use in this particular context, where the stress lies on cities backing up change / cities that are doing something to promote political change; city councils "for change". You'd surely be able to find the most appropiate English expression. And again, the original Spanish expression is only fully understandable within the very particular political context; even if you are a Spanish speaking reader, were you not aware of the political situation in Spain you would also scratch your head in wonder!
James A. Walsh Dec 6, 2018:
@Chema I’ve lived in Spain for a long time and follow politics closely here, so am well aware of the background to this expression. However, I don’t agree that you have to translate it literally in order to adhere to the narrative of Podemos.

In my opinion, the main purpose of a translation should be to render a message in such a way that the target readers (in this case English speakers) understand that message immediately — without having to wonder what it means.

So if I was an English person and read “city councils of change” in an article, I would scratch my head and wonder “what does that actually mean?” It just sounds like a literal translation that I don’t really understand.

That’s why I took the adjectival approach here: I felt that spelling out the innovative actions of these ayuntamientos might make it easier for your average English speaker to understand. Because, at the end of the day, they really have been game changers (Ada, Carmena, etc.)
Charles Davis Dec 6, 2018:
Or local authorities: the usual UK term nowadays.
Charles Davis Dec 6, 2018:
Preposition "Councils for Change" sounds much better to me than "Councils of Change".
Sara Fairen Dec 6, 2018:
Chema, Absolutely, "ayuntamientos del cambio" is a political slogan, coined by the Podemos party. Sorry I did not elaborate this morning, you read about it so much in the Spanish press that I didn't think it needed any further explanation. That is why in the links I posted this morning the expression is always used with quotation marks, and sometimes it is also preceded by 'so-called', as in "the so-called 'councils of change'...".
Chema Nieto Castañón Dec 6, 2018:
It must be noted that the original is a partisan expression coined and exclusively used by the new political party Podemos to refer to those cities where this political party has managed to win local elections (as Madrid or Barcelona among others). As such, to translate it literally would mean to adhere to the narrative of Podemos. And yet, I suspect the original is (almost surely) written by Podemos. As such, the original expression should be translated in English without further explanation, allowing the original message to get through. I would keep the reference to cities/towns as the original does not reference so much the victory of a particular political party but subtly refers to the people of certain cities showing their support for "change" equating thus voting for Podemos and backing up political change.
As such I would use Sara's "city councils of change" -or neilmac's "city councils backing change".
philgoddard Dec 6, 2018:
I would leave it in Spanish with an explanation. Is this the first time the phrase appears in the article?

Proposed translations

+3
36 mins
Selected

"(city) councils of change"

"City councils of change", and "mayors of change"

ICTlogy » ICT4D Blog » Article. ICT-based participation in ...


ictlogy.net › ICT4D Blog

1.
Traducir esta página
20 may. 2017 - Drafting the state of the art and the case of decidim.barcelona , a working paper. ... this phenomenon takes place, specifically in Madrid and Barcelona, the two major cities of the state and featuring “city councils of change”.

CIDOB - BARCELONA´S CIUTAT OBERTA: cultural policy's new role ...


https://www.cidob.org/.../barcelona_s_ciutat_oberta_cultural...

1.
Traducir esta página
The cultural policy of Barcelona City Council appears to be changing course. ... governance ambitions of Spain's so-called “city councils of change” – the city councils ... For example, Madrid andBarcelona have stepped up support for cultural ...

Article. ICT-based participation in municipalities: from citizen ...


edcp.blogs.uoc.edu/20170522-article-ict-based-participation-in-municipalities-from-ci...

1.
22 may. 2017 - ... this phenomenon takes place, specifically in Madrid and Barcelona, the two major cities of the state and featuring “city councils of change”.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/26/ada-colau-barc...

The date was not only significant in Barcelona. BComú was one of several new groups that had defeated the established parties to win power in eight major Spanish cities, including Madrid, Valencia and Zaragoza. These new “mayors of change” became symbols of hope for what progressives in Spain sometimes call la nueva politica.
Peer comment(s):
agree Rachel Fell
1 hr
Many thanks, Rachel :-)
agree Chema Nieto Castañón : Yes ;)
5 hrs
Muchas gracias, Chema :-)
agree Marcelo González : Yes, 'of' works, though I prefer 'for' (as Charles suggests).
16 hrs
Many thanks, Marcelo. Both expressions seem to be used :-)
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you Sara - in the end I went for 'councils for change' as a gloss. Thank you too for the references."
+1
2 hrs

Local authorities backing (the) change

Another option.
"Municipal/local authorities backing/promoting/furthering/supporting/behind… (etc.) the change"...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2018-12-06 15:53:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Another take on it could be as follows:

"The city councils'/local authorities' experience of the change has been positive..."
Reference:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/local-authority

Peer comment(s):
agree Jessica Noyes
1 hr
Something went wrong...
4 hrs
Spanish term (edited): ayuntamientos del cambio

game-changing local authorities

Another possibility.
Something went wrong...
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