Using interpreters in cross-cultural research : challenges experienced in a global south context

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Sambajee, Pratima; Wilmot, Natalie Victoria and Gaibrois, Claudine, eds. (2026) Using interpreters in cross-cultural research : challenges experienced in a global south context. In: Routledge Companion to Cross-Cultural Management. Routledge Companions in Business and Management (2nd). Routledge, New York, pp. 405-416. ISBN 9781003477723 (https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003477723)

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Abstract

Cross-cultural research is more complex when it involves a cross-language dimension. A further layer of complexity is added when the context of research is embedded in a political economy characterised by unequal power relations. Existing research has given much attention to the ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ positions and their influence on cross-cultural research. A critical perspective on how these positions evolve in a cross-language situation is rare in research methodologies. This chapter focuses on the use of interpreters in cross-cultural research by drawing on a study of migrant workers in a global south migration context. The findings present extracts from interviews involving four interpreters, of whom two were from the migrant group and two were from a gatekeeping organisation. The study highlights how the positionality of the four interpreters was influenced by their agency during interviews. Importantly, the findings revealed that these positionalities are deeply embedded in different power relations that permeate their relationships with research participants. The chapter calls for the need to reconsider the influence of interpreters in cross-cultural studies where cross-language and power dimensions exist.

ORCID iDs

Sambajee, Pratima ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8867-877X; Wilmot, Natalie Victoria and Gaibrois, Claudine
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)