Imaginaries and Engagement in the Deaf Community

Abstract

In the context of a perceived crisis in Deaf engagement, this proposition explores how the imaginary shapes commitment and disengagement of deaf people within their community. While previous studies highlight a decline in participation in mass-events organized by and for the deaf community (Foster et al., 2018), recent research suggests a broader retreat from collective advocacy centered on deaf identity (Rasquinet, 2024). This shift raises questions about how deaf individuals negotiate their visibility in the public sphere and whether their commitment has taken alternative forms. Building on the framework of Cultural Disability Studies (Waldschmidt, 2018), we examine this phenomenon through a critical lens, considering how dominant socio-political structures influence deaf imaginaries. Drawing on a corpus of nine semi-structured interviews conducted in 2023, our study includes sign language users and oralists, categorized based on their involvement in deaf spaces. Preliminary findings indicate that while traditional forms of deaf activism may be waning, commitment persists through intersectional advocacies (e.g. LGBTQIA+ rights, anti-racism, feminism), suggesting a reconfiguration rather than a disappearance of commitment. By interrogating the role of the imaginary as a collective consciousness (Grassi, 2005), we analyze whether this disengagement from deaf-centered spaces signifies a broader realignment of priorities within minority communities. We also explore whether this shift can be understood as a form of subjective commitment to an objective environment (see Durand, 1992). Through this analysis, we contribute to discussions on the interplay between discourse, representation, and the imaginaries of minority groups in contemporary societies