Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
"clique concessionaire"
English translation:
the clique, the current concessionaire
Added to glossary by
John Holland
Apr 7, 2013 22:51
11 yrs ago
1 viewer *
French term
United Kingdom
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, Spanish to English, and 1 more.
"clique concessionaire"
French to English
Social Sciences
Economics
History of Economics as a university discipline in France
Hello,
I'm stuck with how best to translate this phrase in the context of an article regarding the history of economics as a university discipline in France (esp late 19th). Here is the relevant paragraph in full:
(Léon) Walras va être totalement bloqué par cet élément administratif. Mais il ne se décourage pas pour autant, et il va même jusqu'à penser à une refonte totale de l'Université, comme en témoigne son article "de la culture et de l'enseignement des sciences morales et politiques" de 1879. Il pense même que la création de facultés de sciences morales et politiques seraient un moyen efficace pour lutter contre "la clique actuellement concessionnaire de l'exploitation de l'économie politique".
I'm stuck with how best to translate this phrase in the context of an article regarding the history of economics as a university discipline in France (esp late 19th). Here is the relevant paragraph in full:
(Léon) Walras va être totalement bloqué par cet élément administratif. Mais il ne se décourage pas pour autant, et il va même jusqu'à penser à une refonte totale de l'Université, comme en témoigne son article "de la culture et de l'enseignement des sciences morales et politiques" de 1879. Il pense même que la création de facultés de sciences morales et politiques seraient un moyen efficace pour lutter contre "la clique actuellement concessionnaire de l'exploitation de l'économie politique".
Change log
Apr 21, 2013 06:56: John Holland Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+2
1 hr
Selected
the clique, the current concessionaire
A clique in French is essentially the same in the two languages. It is a pejorative term for a small group that works in an exclusive manner:
http://www.cnrtl.fr/lexicographie/clique?
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/clique
"Concessionaire" means that a person has an exclusive right to exploit something such as a terrain or a sector of a market:
http://www.cnrtl.fr/lexicographie/concessionnaire?
Thus, I believe that the phrase means that there is a small clique of people who claim to have an elusive right to make use of the political economy (for their own benefit, by implication).
I think a fairly literal translation would be fine here, and that is how a past translator handled the phrase. Please see p. 378 of Studies in the History of French Political Economy: From Bodin to Walras (Edited by Gilbert Faccarello, Routledge, 1998) which can be viewed on-line at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0415099390/ :
"Walras [...] fought 'the clique, the current concessionaire of the exploitation of political economy'..."
(Please note that although I did not translate that particular chapter, I did translate several other chapters in this book.)
I'd also like to suggest a less-literal version:
"the in-group that currently monopolizes (monopolises) the political economy"
However, in translation of academic texts, the existing translation is usually to be preferred.
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Note added at 9 hrs (2013-04-08 08:08:28 GMT)
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Here is a direct link to the page of the book mentioned above on which the translation appears, on Google Books:
http://books.google.fr/books?id=Edmvxx86JTQC&lpg=PA369&ots=I...
http://www.cnrtl.fr/lexicographie/clique?
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/clique
"Concessionaire" means that a person has an exclusive right to exploit something such as a terrain or a sector of a market:
http://www.cnrtl.fr/lexicographie/concessionnaire?
Thus, I believe that the phrase means that there is a small clique of people who claim to have an elusive right to make use of the political economy (for their own benefit, by implication).
I think a fairly literal translation would be fine here, and that is how a past translator handled the phrase. Please see p. 378 of Studies in the History of French Political Economy: From Bodin to Walras (Edited by Gilbert Faccarello, Routledge, 1998) which can be viewed on-line at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0415099390/ :
"Walras [...] fought 'the clique, the current concessionaire of the exploitation of political economy'..."
(Please note that although I did not translate that particular chapter, I did translate several other chapters in this book.)
I'd also like to suggest a less-literal version:
"the in-group that currently monopolizes (monopolises) the political economy"
However, in translation of academic texts, the existing translation is usually to be preferred.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2013-04-08 08:08:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Here is a direct link to the page of the book mentioned above on which the translation appears, on Google Books:
http://books.google.fr/books?id=Edmvxx86JTQC&lpg=PA369&ots=I...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
1 hr
French term (edited):
"la clique actuellement concessionnaire de l'exploitation de l'économie politique".
"the coterie / the clique presently given concession to exploit (the teaching of) political economy"
"la clique actuellement concessionnaire de l'exploitation de l'économie politique".
=
"the coterie / the clique / the clan presently given the concession to exploit (the teaching of) political economy"
=
"the coterie / the clique / the clan presently given the concession to exploit (the teaching of) political economy"
+1
10 hrs
inner-circle currently monopolising
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Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Marco Solinas
3 hrs
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Thanks
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| neutral |
Daryo
: "inner-circle" sounds too nice for "la clique"
10 hrs
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Clique is ok with me - I give an option.
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| neutral |
papier
: inner-circle is too nice as said by Daryo and it does not say where it would be located: at the heart of economic policies power.
8 days
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Clique is ok with me - I give an option.
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-1
1 hr
"the gang who holds the right for"
The gang current holding the right for exploring economic policies (for its own benefit, not for the public benefit).
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Note added at 1 hora (2013-04-07 23:56:04 GMT)
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Can also use "gang concessionaire"
http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english...
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Note added at 9 dias (2013-04-16 22:51:26 GMT)
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Daryo, I am not extrapolating, the author of the French just does not mean what you think he means.
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Note added at 9 dias (2013-04-17 00:17:36 GMT)
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Still, it is important to notice that that was a period of great corruption scandals at the heart of the French government during the Third Republic, a delicate power assurance process for a new regime. Just after two presidential resignations (Mac Mahon, 1879, and Jules Grévy, after the l'Ordre de la Légion d'honneur scandal, in 1887), a third president, Sadi Carnot, dies in 1894 after being blessed in an anarchist attack amid a strong union and popular movement in the streets going on along with his involvement in the great Panama Channel French funding scandal. Walras was not one of those political leaders supporters at the French government as his background roots in France demonstrates. Also, by that time, he lived in Lausanne, Switzerland, teaching economics and developing his theories at the Local University for twenty years or so.
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
Daryo
: "economic policies" is what a government does // "political economy" is a scientific discipline => "the history of economics as a university discipline in France"// I think you're extrapolating too much - theory and practice don't always agree.
1 hr
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Daryo, we all know that. The meaning of the sentence is exactly the one I wrote. The fight is against the current economic policies (same group of interest in power at both: the government and the teaching of economics related matters in the academy)
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