Race on the brain : what implicit bias gets wrong about the struggle for racial justice / Jonathan Kahn.
2018
KF9223 .K33 2018 (Mapit)
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Title
Race on the brain : what implicit bias gets wrong about the struggle for racial justice / Jonathan Kahn.
Imprint
New York : Columbia University Press, [2018]
Description
x, 291 pages ; 24 cm
Formatted Contents Note
Introduction: rethinking implicit bias-the limits to science as a tool of racial justice
Defining and measuring implicit bias
The uptake of ISC by the legal academy
Accepting conservative frames: time, color-blindness, diversity, and intent
Behavioral realism in action
Deracinating the legal subject
Obscuring power
Recreational anti-racism and the power of positive nudging
Seeking a technical fix to racism
Biologizing racism: the ultimate technical fix
Conclusion: contesting the common sense of racism.
Defining and measuring implicit bias
The uptake of ISC by the legal academy
Accepting conservative frames: time, color-blindness, diversity, and intent
Behavioral realism in action
Deracinating the legal subject
Obscuring power
Recreational anti-racism and the power of positive nudging
Seeking a technical fix to racism
Biologizing racism: the ultimate technical fix
Conclusion: contesting the common sense of racism.
Summary
Of the many obstacles to racial justice in America, none has received more recent attention than the one that lurks in our subconscious. As social movements and policing scandals have shown how far from being "postracial" we are, the concept of implicit bias has taken center stage in national conversation about race. Millions of Americans have taken online tests purporting to show the deep, invisible roots of their prejudice. When a recent Oxford study claimed to have found a drug that reduced implicit bias, it was only the starkest example of a pervasive trend. But what do we risk when we seek the simplicity of a technological diagnosis-and solution-for racism? What do we miss when we locate racism in our biology and our brains rather than in our history and our social practices? In Race on the Brain, Jonathan Kahn argues that implicit bias has grown into a master narrative of race relations-one with profound if unintended negative consequences for law, science, and society. He emphasizes its limitations, arguing that while useful as a tool to understand particular types of behavior, it is only one among the various tools available to policymakers. An uncritical embrace of implicit bias, to the exclusion of power relations and structural racism, undermines civic responsibility for addressing the problem by turning it over to experts. Technological interventions, including many tests for implicit bias, are premised on a color-blind ideal and run the risk of erasing history, denying present reality, and obscuring accountability.
Note
Of the many obstacles to racial justice in America, none has received more recent attention than the one that lurks in our subconscious. As social movements and policing scandals have shown how far from being "postracial" we are, the concept of implicit bias has taken center stage in national conversation about race. Millions of Americans have taken online tests purporting to show the deep, invisible roots of their prejudice. When a recent Oxford study claimed to have found a drug that reduced implicit bias, it was only the starkest example of a pervasive trend. But what do we risk when we seek the simplicity of a technological diagnosis-and solution-for racism? What do we miss when we locate racism in our biology and our brains rather than in our history and our social practices? In Race on the Brain, Jonathan Kahn argues that implicit bias has grown into a master narrative of race relations-one with profound if unintended negative consequences for law, science, and society. He emphasizes its limitations, arguing that while useful as a tool to understand particular types of behavior, it is only one among the various tools available to policymakers. An uncritical embrace of implicit bias, to the exclusion of power relations and structural racism, undermines civic responsibility for addressing the problem by turning it over to experts. Technological interventions, including many tests for implicit bias, are premised on a color-blind ideal and run the risk of erasing history, denying present reality, and obscuring accountability.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Location
STA
Call Number
KF9223 .K33 2018
Language
English
ISBN
9780231184243 hardcover alkaline paper
0231184247 hardcover alkaline paper
9780231545389 electronic book
0231184247 hardcover alkaline paper
9780231545389 electronic book
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