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Citizenship and the Deaf Community (Chapter 2 – The Literature Review: 2.1 Introduction)

Chapter 2 – The Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

This is the first comprehensive study on citizenship and Deaf communities, so in that respect the work is unique; however, as indicated in the introduction, the concept of citizenship touches many disciplines. The study being undertaken is focussed on the issue of the social exclusion of Deaf citizens within parameters set by wider society – social policy for example. There is a general consensus that Deaf citizens do not experience equal citizenship, with organisations of Deaf people campaigning to redress this inequality (Alker, 2000; Alker & Turner, 2002). What is less addressed is precisely how citizenship can be used as a conceptual tool to work towards a society in which Deaf citizens are not so disadvantaged in spheres of citizenship and civic participation. The issue here is to what extent Deaf citizens experience social exclusion in comparison to hearing citizens.

The literature review assesses work in a number of areas. Firstly, there will be a clear conceptualisation of ‘the Deaf community’ that is being referred to throughout this thesis. The concept of what the Deaf community entails is contested in the literature, and this will be addressed. Secondly, an outline will be given of the definition of citizenship that is used throughout this work – namely that of T.H. Marshall (1950). This framework is a liberal one, and that factor will also be highlighted. Once these terms have been clarified, the third part of the chapter will explore work which has directly referred to the citizenship status of Deaf people. These are few and far between so this part will be brief. That will contrast with the fourth part, which will investigate literature which has indirectly referred to such a status. The field here is vast, and this will be broken down into four parts: work which relates to civil citizenship; that describing political citizenship; references to social citizenship and that relating to obligations. The fifth and final part will explore a number of concepts that have been addressed in Deaf studies and whose relationship to citizenship will be considered within this thesis. These include, in turn, the concept of oralism; the concept of audism; transnationalism; group rights; and finally, phonocentrism.