Navigating Trust: The Role of the Untrusted Interpreter as a Trust-Builder in Multilingual Research Interviews

It is unethical for researchers to engage with respondents without a shared language that enables mutual understanding. Nevertheless, some researchers oppose the use of interpreters in interviews where no common language exists, arguing that interpreters complicate the process. This objection is often based on a perceived lack of trust in the interpreter, either from the researcher or the respondent. While such mistrust may indeed occur, this text does not assess its validity. Rather, it argues that the notion of the interpreter as an obstacle to trust has become a travelling idea—a widely circulated and normalised assumption within the research community and beyond. This idea operates as a dismissive practice, reinforcing a monolingual mindset and racialised assumptions. By examining how this perception has gained traction, the text calls for a critical interrogation of how the concept of trust is employed to marginalise the role of interpreters. The discussion draws on a research project involving 16 in-depth interviews with families in Sweden who were either undocumented or awaiting residence permits. Through vignettes from these interpreted conversations, the text illustrates how interpreters were both agents and outcomes of the interaction, and how trust and security were simultaneously enabled and constrained.