The politics of translation: Negotiating class in multilingual qualitative research

Existing research on translation in qualitative inquiry has largely focused on questions of linguistic accuracy, equivalence, and cultural interpretation, while paying comparatively little attention to how class is negotiated through translation and how these negotiations shape knowledge production. Drawing on a reflexive re-examination of my completed doctoral ethnography with Chinese migrants in the UK, this article examines how classed meanings are negotiated through translation and why they frequently become marginalised within multilingual qualitative research. The analysis identifies three interconnected processes: the marginalisation of classed meanings through translational priorities such as fluency and readability, the reinterpretation of class through cultural frameworks, and the influence of researcher positionality on the recognition and representation of class throughout the research process. By conceptualising translation as a negotiated space, this article repositions class as a central concern in reflexive translation and advances a more class-conscious approach to the politics of qualitative knowledge production.