Deafness, community and culture in Britain

Sets a case study of deaf people’s leisure in NW England within a wider British context; gives insights into a misunderstood, misrepresented community; questions perceptions of deafness as a disability; shows the importance of shared leisure in community formation and how changing patterns of socialisation are affecting British society.

Setting a case study of deaf people’s leisure practices in north-west England within a wider examination of communal deaf leisure across Britain, this book offers new insights into a misunderstood and misrepresented community. The book provides a detailed analysis of deaf people’s leisure during the second half of the twentieth century, which questions perceptions of deafness as a disability, investigates the importance of shared leisure in community formation more generally and examines the ways in which changing patterns of socialisation are affecting British society. Although focusing on the British deaf community, the concepts and principles explored in this book can be applied across a wide range of social, cultural and ethnic groups. This book draws upon a wide range of subject areas and will consequently be of interest to students and academics working in the fields of disability, history, community and cultural minority studies, sport, leisure and regional studies