Michele Friedner – författare

Although it is commonly believed that deafness and disability limits a person in a variety of ways, Valuing Deaf Worlds in Urban India describes the two as a source of value in postcolonial India. Michele Friedner argues that the experiences of deaf people offer an important portrayal of contemporary self-making and sociality under new regimes of labor and economy in India.  Friedner contends that deafness actually becomes a source of value for deaf Indians as they interact with nongovernmental organizations, with employers in the global information technology sector, and with the state. In contrast to previous political economic moments, deaf Indians increasingly depend less on the state for education and employment, and instead turn to novel and sometimes surprising spaces such as NGOs, multinational corporations, multilevel marketing businesses, and churches that attract deaf congregants. They also gravitate towards each other. Their social practices may be invisible to outsiders because neither the state nor their families have recognized Indian Sign Language as legitimate, but deaf Indians collectively learn sign language, which they use among themselves, and they also learn the importance of working within the structures of their communities to maximize their opportunities.   Valuing Deaf Worlds in Urban India analyzes how diverse deaf people become oriented toward each other and disoriented from their families and other kinship networks. More broadly, this book explores how deafness, deaf sociality, and sign language relate to contemporary society.

Although it is commonly believed that deafness and disability limits a person in a variety of ways, Valuing Deaf Worlds in Urban India describes the two as a source of value in postcolonial India. Michele Friedner argues that the experiences of deaf people offer an important portrayal of contemporary self-making and sociality under new regimes of labor and economy in India.  Friedner contends that deafness actually becomes a source of value for deaf Indians as they interact with nongovernmental organizations, with employers in the global information technology sector, and with the state. In contrast to previous political economic moments, deaf Indians increasingly depend less on the state for education and employment, and instead turn to novel and sometimes surprising spaces such as NGOs, multinational corporations, multilevel marketing businesses, and churches that attract deaf congregants. They also gravitate towards each other. Their social practices may be invisible to outsiders because neither the state nor their families have recognized Indian Sign Language as legitimate, but deaf Indians collectively learn sign language, which they use among themselves, and they also learn the importance of working within the structures of their communities to maximize their opportunities.   Valuing Deaf Worlds in Urban India analyzes how diverse deaf people become oriented toward each other and disoriented from their families and other kinship networks. More broadly, this book explores how deafness, deaf sociality, and sign language relate to contemporary society.

This book provides an interdisciplinary exploration of the concepts and practices of professionalism, responsibility, and relationality in the context of deaf education.Internationally, public attention has been drawn to professional and ethical ruptures and crises in early intervention and education for deaf children. These ruptures and crises both demonstrate a failure in organizations' duty of care and raise new questions regarding professional responsibility and relational ethics in the field of deaf education and more broadly. The chapters investigate the views of teachers of deaf children in the United Kingdom on their roles, specifically in relation to medicalization; offer an ethnographic account and analysis of deaf immigrants' experiences of deaf education settings on the east coast of the United States; and analyze an overreliance on technology in deaf education spaces in Indian classrooms and the impacts of this technology use on teacher expectations. They also explore interactions between educators and parents of deaf children in Los Angeles, California, as these actors grapple with making choices in a context of audism; and consider sign language rights for deaf children in early intervention and education through a Canadian case study featuring a child denied access to sign language and an appropriate and accessible education.This book will be an essential resource for students and researchers of critical pedagogy, teaching and learning, inclusive education, and disability studies. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Deafness & Education International.

This book provides an interdisciplinary exploration of the concepts and practices of professionalism, responsibility, and relationality in the context of deaf education.Internationally, public attention has been drawn to professional and ethical ruptures and crises in early intervention and education for deaf children. These ruptures and crises both demonstrate a failure in organizations' duty of care and raise new questions regarding professional responsibility and relational ethics in the field of deaf education and more broadly. The chapters investigate the views of teachers of deaf children in the United Kingdom on their roles, specifically in relation to medicalization; offer an ethnographic account and analysis of deaf immigrants' experiences of deaf education settings on the east coast of the United States; and analyze an overreliance on technology in deaf education spaces in Indian classrooms and the impacts of this technology use on teacher expectations. They also explore interactions between educators and parents of deaf children in Los Angeles, California, as these actors grapple with making choices in a context of audism; and consider sign language rights for deaf children in early intervention and education through a Canadian case study featuring a child denied access to sign language and an appropriate and accessible education.This book will be an essential resource for students and researchers of critical pedagogy, teaching and learning, inclusive education, and disability studies. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Deafness & Education International.