BSL:UPTAKE » Blog Archive » Citizenship and the Deaf Community (PART II

Citizenship and the Deaf Community (PART II – Background to the study)

PART II – Background to the study

In the introduction citizenship was identified as a popular and contemporary concept, albeit one which is contested and wide-ranging. Since the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe, it has increasingly been drawn on as a concept to address social issues and social problems. In particular, it has been applied to minority cultures, women and disabled people, but has yet to be applied to the Deaf community. Given the significant developments in relation to research on sign languages and Deaf culture, and political actions worldwide that have achieved the recognition of sign languages by several nation states, it would seem the time is ripe to analyse the Deaf community using the concept of citizenship. It may also be particularly apt to do so given that Deaf communities globally and Deaf people individually continue to be at a disadvantage in a world which is constantly in flux, in spite of recognition developments. The next two chapters will identify the literature in Deaf studies and citizenship, to ascertain the extent to which the concept has been used in relation to Deaf communities. An outline will be provided of the approach taken by the researcher in the analysis of the issue in the Deaf community. These two chapters will therefore form the background to the study.