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kveylet's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This is an amazing dive into the rise and fall and creeping rise of scientific racism, and how entangled the facade of objectivity has always been with how we divide power socially. It’s written with documentarian’s vision and a historian’s command of these communities of scientists and racists. Everyone interested in thinking about how we redress the social harms of racism and move away from race as a cause for division of power should read this.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and War
onlyonebookshelf's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide and Racism
tanya_b's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Weaves science, history, and social science into a fully human picture of how we see ourselves and others.
I would give this extra stars if I could. 10 🌟
I would give this extra stars if I could. 10 🌟
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Genocide, Slavery, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Chronic illness, Death, Rape, Violence, Colonisation, and Classism
josieruby1's review against another edition
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Genocide, Mental illness, Slavery, Torture, Islamophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
librarymouse's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
This book offers a nuanced perspective on the history of attempting to find biolo ical difference between individuals on the basis of perceived, nd often arbitrary categories. Rather than outr ght dismissing the possibility that there could be biological differences in ethnic groups that we have not discovered yet, Saini works from the perspective of the social impact of this type of race-based research and explores the ethical dilemmas that stem from it. One of her major points addresses the reality that the ways people are categorized or studies, in terms of race, are often arbitrary and poorly defined. The defining factors are social, and often lack rooting in scien ific application.
Saini also explores the history of weaponized race science, leading back to the Nazis. There's a common belief that after world war II not the ideology fell away to a more liberal worldview. Saini explores the ways and which this perceived history is incorrect and the outcomes of having a hidden ring of bigoted, attempting to work science to suit their beliefs. The same groups that claim that there is a secret Jewish cabal running the world actually do work in the shadows, funding or being funded by wealthy individuals and/or organizations for work intent on proving racial superiority in one way or the other, regardless of how many lies need to be told and test results need to be warped to reach that outcome. Saini covers many bases, addressing the issue of race science across the globe, but she pays special attention to the powder keg that is the United States, and the unique circumstances that lead to the current political climate and infrastructure.
Saini also explores the history of weaponized race science, leading back to the Nazis. There's a common belief that after world war II not the ideology fell away to a more liberal worldview. Saini explores the ways and which this perceived history is incorrect and the outcomes of having a hidden ring of bigoted, attempting to work science to suit their beliefs. The same groups that claim that there is a secret Jewish cabal running the world actually do work in the shadows, funding or being funded by wealthy individuals and/or organizations for work intent on proving racial superiority in one way or the other, regardless of how many lies need to be told and test results need to be warped to reach that outcome. Saini covers many bases, addressing the issue of race science across the globe, but she pays special attention to the powder keg that is the United States, and the unique circumstances that lead to the current political climate and infrastructure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Islamophobia
Minor: Pregnancy
samdalefox's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.75
Angela Saini is a treasure to the intersectional feminism world. Long may her research continue. 'Superior' is her next book following 'Inferior' and largely achieves the same outcome. Saini comprehensively debunks racism's core lie, just as she roundly debunked sexism's core lie previously. She methodically, logically, dissects the racism used within science. She explains how it begun, how and why it survives today, and how it has influenced society. Saini draws from a range of sources, notably anthropologists, historians, sociologists, molecular biologists, and geneticists. I personally found one of the later chapters examining clinical trials very interesting. Despite all this academic research, this is not a dry book. Siani is an experienced journalist and weaves personal narratives and dialogue into the text.
I greatly appreciate the thoroughness of Saini's investigations, and her attempt to report neutrally whilst simultaneously recognising her own experiences, limitations, and biases AND the inclusion of an impressive references list. From one scientist to another, THANK YOU. We love sources. We love peer reviewed research. We love substantiating our claims. This 1) gives weight to her analyses and credibility, and 2) gives us the readers the power to read further, critically assess for ourselves, and have an ammo list to hand when some devil's-advocate-troll demands a reference for your claim.
The reason this doesn't quite pip 5 stars is because at times the narrative repeated itself and felt a little wandering. It could benefit from a tiny bit of trimming and reformatting so that the key points and evidence cited in each chapter stand out more clearly.
Overall, this is a critical book for anyone interested in learning about racism and/or committed to becoming anti-racist. There were several moments in the book that prompted me to question my own internalised thoughts about race. I would highly recommend.
I greatly appreciate the thoroughness of Saini's investigations, and her attempt to report neutrally whilst simultaneously recognising her own experiences, limitations, and biases AND the inclusion of an impressive references list. From one scientist to another, THANK YOU. We love sources. We love peer reviewed research. We love substantiating our claims. This 1) gives weight to her analyses and credibility, and 2) gives us the readers the power to read further, critically assess for ourselves, and have an ammo list to hand when some devil's-advocate-troll demands a reference for your claim.
The reason this doesn't quite pip 5 stars is because at times the narrative repeated itself and felt a little wandering. It could benefit from a tiny bit of trimming and reformatting so that the key points and evidence cited in each chapter stand out more clearly.
Overall, this is a critical book for anyone interested in learning about racism and/or committed to becoming anti-racist. There were several moments in the book that prompted me to question my own internalised thoughts about race. I would highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, and Slavery
nickytheparttimebelgian's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Medical content, and Gaslighting
charlottesomewhere's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
There's a lot of information packed into this book. A detailed and brilliantly written history of "race science" and how it has contributed to and perpetuated racism and racist stereotypes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, and Antisemitism
erenreads12's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This was a comprehensive, detailed guide to the roots of race science and the pervasiveness of old ideology, made modern by the nurturing of racist sentiments and spaces. This feels like an important read for anybody who wants to begin to learn how to be anti-racist, but especially for those in scientific fields, particularly in research.
This was, unsurprisingly, very science heavy, particularly in the beginning - here it felt at times inaccessible, and I had some difficulty understanding the scientific theory presented. However, by and large Angela Saini does a good job of making the science and theory as understandable as possible. If you're picking up this book, be prepared for the technicalities to be sometimes challenging - but I would recommend picking it up nonetheless.
This was, unsurprisingly, very science heavy, particularly in the beginning - here it felt at times inaccessible, and I had some difficulty understanding the scientific theory presented. However, by and large Angela Saini does a good job of making the science and theory as understandable as possible. If you're picking up this book, be prepared for the technicalities to be sometimes challenging - but I would recommend picking it up nonetheless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racism, Slavery, and Xenophobia
jim_jam's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide and Racism