https://www.proz.com/kudoz/french-to-english/economics/6256001-volontarisme.html
Jan 10, 2017 21:05
7 yrs ago
6 viewers *
French term

volontarisme

French to English Social Sciences Economics
Ok last question (I hope) from an analysis of the political and economic situation in a middle-income country:

This is part of a concluding bullet list so the surrounding text doesn't add any useful context.

"Se manifeste clairement la nécessité de renforcer et développer le secteur économique des hautes technologies à l’égard duquel il y a un fort besoin, ce qui pose, en l’occurrence, la question du *volontarisme* de l’Etat."

The high-tech question was addressed earlier in the document: "Le défi pour est alors de mettre en œuvre les nouveaux ressorts d’une croissance économique maintenue. Cela signifie le développement d’un secteur de haute technologie – pour alimenter le marché intérieur et pour développer les exportations – et le renforcement d’une main d’œuvre hautement qualifiée, permettant d’augmenter la productivité du travail toujours très faible à ce jour. En dépit de leur caractère stratégique, les deux manquent indéniablement." And then it talks about the need to attract FDI which will be hard in the currently tumultuous context, etc.

And later on: "Néanmoins, considérant que les coproductions et les transferts de technologie constituent les axes de leur stratégie d’acquisition, les industriels peuvent s’appuyer sur un fort engagement de l’Etat. Comme dans les défis économiques généraux que doit affronter le pays, le principal est d’assurer une montée en gamme contrôlée et sur une perspective de moyen terme. Or le pays ne semble pas posséder à ce stade d’innovations susceptibles d’entraîner des secteurs ignificatifs de la production de haute technologie, d’où l’importance des mesures prises au niveau R&D." And there is a whole section on the govt's various incentive to encourage R&D.

I initially translated the last part of the sentence as "which raises questions about the state's determination to do so", but I'm wondering if "volontarisme de l'état" should be translated more literally "state volontarism" (as per a previous thread, which has several suggestions that might fit). Or something else entirely?

I welcome any other suggestions, my brain is fried at this point!

Discussion

writeaway Jan 11, 2017:
There is a lot of information about this term in English on the www. There's no need to guess.
For instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntaryism
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/voluntarism
http://www.regionalmanagementservices.com/helpful/THE PRACTI...

etc

Proposed translations

+2
4 mins
Selected

activism

Or: "interventionism". I understand it to mean the willingness of the state to intervene in a specific sector of the economy.
Peer comment(s):

agree philgoddard : I'm not sure activism works - to me it implies campaigning, often against governments. But interventionism is good.
43 mins
agree Yolanda Broad
45 mins
neutral Francois Boye : Activism is a word fraught with ambiguity, isn't it?
2 hrs
neutral Nikki Scott-Despaigne : Hmmm... the idea of "volontarisme" is about willingness to intervene, which is not conveyed by activism. "Interventionism" is closer although it is about intervention as a policy; is that willingess?
14 hrs
neutral B D Finch : agree with interventionism, not with activism.
17 hrs
neutral Sheila Critchley : agree with willingness. Activism would not normally be conducted by a government, but rather by eg a campaigner or pressure group
22 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
1 hr

state voluntarism/action

Peer comment(s):

neutral B D Finch : Voluntarism means reliance on voluntary action by individuals. Your Wikipedia page doesn't exist, but redirects to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntaryism.
16 hrs
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1 hr

developmental leadership

It's incumbent upon the state to develop the economy. As a result, the strategic decisions are not left to the market. Instead, the market must align with the state leadership
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+1
15 hrs

political will

My take.

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Note added at 23 hrs (2017-01-11 20:54:56 GMT)
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political will

Political intention or desire (in early use not as a fixed collocation); (later) specifically the firm intention or commitment on the part of a government to carry through a policy, especially one which is not immediately successful or popular.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/political_will
Peer comment(s):

agree Sheila Critchley : or "willingness"
7 hrs
Thanks, Horvats. 'Willingness' also works (but afraid I prefer 'will!)
neutral Francois Boye : Why would there be a popular opposition to high technologies?
10 hrs
Government is not always straightforward!
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Reference comments

17 hrs
Reference:

Voluntarisme

This does not mean the same as "voluntarism" in English, at least not in the non-psychology context.



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Note added at 17 hrs (2017-01-11 14:40:44 GMT)
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Though "interventionism" doesn't have the same direct meaning of motivation by belief in the will, it necessarily comes to the same thing, as interventionism is based on belief that intervening will work to achieve the desired goals.
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