Digitale tolkebestillingssystemer og deres innflytelse på autonomi i tolkeyrket og tilgang til kvalifiserte tolker

En komparativ analyse av fire nordiske lander

Abstract

This article examines interpreters’ professional autonomy in the public sector in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden an whether it is affected by the usage of digital interpreter booking systems. The analysis draws on Freidson’s tripartite concept of autonomy: economic, political, and administrative monopoly, and is inspired by Ragin’s comparative method. The empirical material combines document analysis, interviews, and the authors’ professional experience. The findings show that interpreters have limited control over access to the profession, remuneration, work standards, and evaluation. Control is primarily exercised by public purchasers and private intermediaries. Norway stands out through a combination of a statutory requirement to use qualified interpreters, authorization, a national register, education, and, in some sectors, fixed rates and direct booking, which increases the use of qualified interpreters without conferring genuine professional self-governance. Digital interpreter booking systems reinforce existing governance logics, including response pressure, low algorithmic transparency, and weak prioritization of qualifications where institutional requirements are lacking. Platforms support quality only when embedded in frameworks that explicitly prioritize qualifications and transparent allocation rules.