Transnationalism

Historic and Contemporary Deaf Transnationalism

Transnationalism is used to discuss both historical events and contemporary happenings that involve deaf people from numerous countries. Historic studies have shown that a shared hearing condition, use of sign language, and similar experiences of oppression led to a feeling of commonality and mutual interest between deaf people from different countries. Historical/archival studies of international deaf conferences and the banquets held in Paris in the mid-19th century in which deaf people from around the world congregated revealed that deaf people at the time were aware of and discussed their ability and inclination to connect across national borders. These studies show that the ability to communicate across different sign languages and the sense of communality that occurs at places where deaf people from different countries meet is not a recent phenomenon, and that cooperation between networks with deaf people from various nation-states has been a crucial aspect in many deaf communities for centuries. Indeed, the founding of Gallaudet University in the United States could be considered a transnational venture in that it involved the work of American and French participants.

Contemporary studies on transnationalism in Deaf communities have mainly focused on the spaces (both temporary and permanent) where deaf people from different countries physically meet, for shorter or longer time. In studies of international events like the World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf and the Deaflympics (winter and summer games), transnationalism is used as an analytic concept to describe the dynamics of many of the social processes that take place at these events. The intense social interaction among many of the participants (regardless of their place of origin or role as a delegate, athlete, or tourist/observer at the event) creates a sense of commonality and community among the participants. Many of these events are organized on a recurring basis, but are rarely organized two times in a row in the same country. The lack of attachment to a particular country underscores that the events, not the countries in which they take place, are of importance (although there has been a tendency to organize the majority of such events in Western countries).

...