Inclusion for sale: commodifying deaf labour and performing benevolent ableism in China’s service sector

This study critically interrogates the recent proliferation of bubble tea shops staffed by deaf employees in urban China, with a particular focus on the commodification of disability under the guise of social inclusion. While these enterprises are frequently lauded as progressive and compassionate, they risk reinforcing a form of benevolent ableism in which deaf individuals are symbolically included yet remain structurally marginalised. The article contends that such commercial ventures appropriate deaf identity as a branding strategy aimed at fulfilling the emotional and moral sensibilities of non-disabled consumers, thereby perpetuating ableist norms and obscuring enduring structural inequities. Although the employment of deaf staff may offer moments of empowerment, it is ultimately subsumed within a market-driven logic that privileges sentimentality over substantive systemic transformation.