Abstract. After the postcolonial critique, dealing with the power of speaking and self-reflexivity belong to the great challenges of academic work. In this article, we derive the necessity to accept these challenges from our own projects and discuss their practical consequences as well as the difficulties of integrating them in development studies of human and physical geography. We argue that the propositions of postcolonial theory cannot be transferred in practice without contradictions. Therefore, we try to grasp these contradictions with the concept of translation. From the point of view of Translation Studies, contradictions do not necessarily lead to failure, but they have the potential to create new knowledge and give voice to new perspectives.