Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias

by Pragya Agarwal

Overview

Dr. Pragya Agarwal unravels the way our implicit or "unintentional" biases affect the way we communicate and perceive the world, how they affect our decision-making, and how they reinforce and perpetuate systemic and structural inequalities.

"A fascinating and vital read."--Good Housekeeping

Sway is a thoroughly researched and comprehensive look at unconscious bias and how it impacts day-to-day life, from job interviews to romantic relationships to saving for retirement. It covers a huge number of sensitive topics - sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, colourism - with tact, and combines statistics with stories to paint a fuller picture and enhance understanding. Throughout, Pragya clearly delineates theories with a solid grounding in science, answering questions such as: do our roots for prejudice lie in our evolutionary past? What happens in our brains when we are biased? How has bias affected technology? If we don't know about it, are we really responsible for it?

At a time when partisan political ideologies are taking center stage, and we struggle to make sense of who we are and who we want to be, it is crucial that we understand why we act the way we do. This book will enables us to open our eyes to our own biases in a scientific and non-judgmental way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472971388
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	09/21/2021
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.60(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Dr Pragya Agarwal is a behavioural and data scientist, and a freelance journalist. As a Senior Academic in US and UK Universities, she held the prestigious Leverhulme Fellowship, following a PhD from the University of Nottingham. She is a two-time TEDx speaker, winner of Diverse Wisdom award from Hay House, and was named as one of the 100 influential women in social enterprise in the UK, and one of 50 people creating change in the UK-India corridor on the High and Mighty list.

@DrPragyaAgarwal

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

Section I Hardwired

Chapter 1 Gut Instinct 27

Chapter 2 The Dawn of Time 43

Chapter 3 All in Your Head 67

Section II Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter 4 Back in Your Box 105

Chapter 5 Bobbsey Twins 152

Chapter 6 Hindsight is 20/20 181

Section III Sex Type-Cast

Chapter 7 Sugar and Spice 205

Chapter 8 It's Not Black and White 252

Chapter 9 Swipe Right for a Match 295

Chapter 10 I Hear You, I Say 329

Section IV Moral Conundrum

Chapter 11 I'd Blush If I Could 363

Chapter 12 Good Intentions 393

Epilogue: De-biasing 101 411

Appendix 415

References 416

Acknowledgements 442

Index 443

Editorial Reviews

“Agarwal's diagnosis of the political harms of bias is passionate and urgent.” —Guardian, Book of the Week

“Fascinating, sometimes challenging, read, for fans of Caroline Criado Perez's Invisible Women and Angela Saini's Superior.” —BBC Science Focus, Best Science Books of April

“A fascinating and vital read.” —Good Housekeeping

“A well-researched and cogent work. It accessibly reveals the insidious nature of stereotyping and does much to encourage readers to examine - and take responsibility for - their own implicit biases.” —Publishers Weekly

“A serious exploration of the neuroscience and psychology of bias. Solid, definitely-not-dumbed-down popular science.” —Kirkus Reviews

“An important look at one of the issues facing Western society today. This book exposes the insidiousness of unconscious bias and offers us a way to change the way we think that is practical, useful, readable and essential for the times we are living in. You need to read this book and think about the way you live and how you view others.” —Nikesh Shukla, author and editor of The Good Immigrant, screenwriter and fellow of the Royal Society of Literature

“An exhaustive, brilliantly researched survey of bias and how it seeps so easily into our everyday thoughts and actions, from gender essentialism to casual racism. Calmly and without polemic, Agarwal explains why we all need to work harder to avoid lazy prejudice and simplistic narratives if we are to build a fairer society. An eye-opening book that I hope will be widely read.” —Angela Saini, science journalist and author of Superior and Inferior

“This indispensable book takes us into our own minds and helps us understand why we believe what we believe and how we can confront ourselves with not just an understanding of other people, but who we are too. A book that is challenging, fascinating and useful, and if we take notice, a book that could make us better people.” —Robin Ince, comedian, writer and broadcaster

“This book is totally fascinating and a reminder that we are all complex creatures with multiple layers. This book is vital reading, eye-opening and a helping hand to arm ourselves with the knowledge to be and do better.” —Emma Gannon, writer, podcast host and author of The Multi-Hyphen Method

“If like me you thought you were non-racist and non-sexist, this book is for you. You will be amazed at how biased we all are. Very well researched, full of great examples from real life. This book should be taught at school.” —Professor Michael Makris, University of Sheffield

“Scrupulously researched, engagingly written, and searingly relevant.” —Caroline Sanderson, editor at The Bookseller

“Approaching the contentious issue of social bias with nuance and a broad range of exhaustive research, behavioural scientist, activist and writer, Agarwal demonstrates how unconscious prejudice is still immensely prevalent in contemporary society. Cogently argued and intensely persuasive, Sway is an enlightening account of how entrenched sets of stereotypes have become. ” —Waterstones

“If you think you don't need to read this book, you really need to read this book.” —Jane Garvey, presenter, BBC Radio 4

“A nuanced, truly eye-opening investigation into the enduring prevalence of unconscious prejudice in contemporary society.” —Waterstones

From the Publisher