Issues Impacting on the Governance of Deafened Adults

Abstract

Following the onset of profound deafness, the newly-deafened person is confronted with the various social meanings attributed to disability, particularly by the medical model. These values focus moral pressure on the individual to conform themselves with reified notions of so-called able-bodied, economically self-sufficient, hearing citizens. This moral arena privileges interventions such as cochlear implants over identifications with the Deaf Community, sign language and alternative communication technologies. The purpose of this paper is document and situate the moral milieu in which deafened people have to act, within its broader historical context. It then documents linkages between broadly-based social movements that commenced centuries ago, with specific attempts to govern aspects of the lives of deaf and deafened people. The analysis shows that as deaf and deafened people today struggle for social equality, they have much more in common, than has perhaps been recognised in the past.

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