Sensory Futures: Deafness and Cochlear Implant Infrastructures in India

Sensory Futures explores the unequal distribution of cochlear implants in India, highlighting the implications of biotechnical intervention in the realm of disability and state politics in the Global South. Michele Ilana Friedner's research focuses on deaf people's desires to create habitable worlds and grapple with their futures, rejecting sensory hierarchies that privilege audition and calling for multisensory, multimodal, and multipersonal ways of relating to the world.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 21 June 2022
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press

Revealing inequalities and sensory hierarchies embedded in the latest medical technologies and global biotechnical markets, this captivating book delves into the profound implications of cochlear implants, hailed as the first successful bionic technologies, as they traverse the globe and become accessible through both state-provided services and expanding private markets. In her insightful exploration, Michele Ilana Friedner, a deaf bilateral cochlear implant user, weaves personal reflections into a detailed ethnography of everyday negotiations, activist aspirations, and the intimate spaces of the family. Through a thoughtful dialogue between sensory anthropology and disability studies, Friedner examines how normative sensoria are cultivated and the pursuit of listening and speaking capability is enacted. She argues that the conditions of potentiality that have emerged through cochlear implantation have, in fact, resulted in ever narrower understandings of future life possibilities. Challenging sensory hierarchies that prioritize audition, Friedner advocates for multisensory, multimodal, and multipersonal ways of relating to the world.

Sensory Futures takes readers on a journey to explore deaf peoples desires to create habitable worlds and grapple with the possibilities of their futures, both in India and beyond. Amid a surge in both biotechnological interventions and disability rights activism, this book offers a sensitive and in-depth examination of the specific experiences of deaf individuals, both children and adults, while also shedding light on the structural, political, and social opportunities offered by these technologies. By focusing on the experiences of deaf people, this research provides valuable insights into the broader landscape of disability experiences and highlights the potential for transformative change.

Through its exploration of sensory hierarchies, biotechnological interventions, and disability rights activism, Sensory Futures offers a thought-provoking examination of the complex interplay between technology, society, and the human experience. It challenges readers to consider the ethical implications of these advancements and encourages us to envision a more inclusive and equitable future where all individuals have access to the tools and resources they need to thrive.

Dimension: 216 x 140 x 38 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781517912130