Migrants from Post-Soviet States and the Field of Legal Interpreting in Contemporary Russia

Migrants from post-Soviet states are in a vulnerable position in legal proceedings. In their interaction with Russian legal institutions, migrants have to rely on legal interpreters. This article aims to study the peculiarities of the professional activities of interpreters in legal proceedings involving migrants from post-Soviet states. The article draws on a Bourdieusian analysis of various forms of capital, including ethnic capital, the concept of symbolic domination, and the theory of the juridical field. The empirical base of the study is qualitative data from research on criminal trials in several Russian cities. A conclusion is made about the weak structuring of the field of legal interpreting and the predominance of precarious employment of actors of this field. The study demonstrates the restricting impact of the institutional and sociocultural contexts on the professional activities of interpreters. It is assumed that institutionalization of the expert position of legal interpreters could enhance migrants’ access to justice.