Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias (Hardback)
  • Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias (Hardback)
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Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias (Hardback)

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£16.99
Hardback 448 Pages
Published: 02/04/2020

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Waterstones Says

Approaching the contentious issue of social bias with nuance and exhaustive research, behavioural scientist, activist and writer Agarwal demonstrates how unconscious prejudice is still immensely prevalent in contemporary society.

For the first time, behavioural and data scientist, activist and writer 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.

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 centre 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.

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781472971357
Number of pages: 448
Weight: 587 g
Dimensions: 216 x 135 mm


MEDIA REVIEWS

'Agarwal's diagnosis of the political harms of bias is passionate and urgent.' - The Guardian

'Fascinating, sometimes challenging, read, for fans of Caroline Criado Perez's Invisible Women and Angela Saini's Superior.' - BBC Science Focus

'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

'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

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

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“Excellent read”

I Am loving this book on chapter 2 and have to stop myself from reading more and get on with things! It really appeals to my scientific brain but Pragya explain things very easily not an easy task when you have so... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 39

“Comprehensive Overview”

'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... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 28

“Crucial, pertinent and well reasoned reading”

Crucial reading to understand how all humans have bias, how young this forms, and how this affects the systems and communities we encounter.
This is a book that weaves some experience in to examples but is mostly... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 24

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