A01=Liya Yu
Author_Liya Yu
biased thinking
blind spots
Category=JMH
Category=PSAN
cognition
dehumanization
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_science
eq_society-politics
in-group thinking
neuropolitics
neuroscience
political theory
the brain
toleration
Product details
- ISBN 9780231200301
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 12 Jul 2022
- Publisher: Columbia University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Neuroscience research has raised a troubling possibility: Could the tendency to stigmatize others be innate? Some evidence suggests that the brain is prone to in-group and out-group classifications, with consequences from ordinary blind spots to full-scale dehumanization. Many are inclined to reject the argument that racism and discrimination could have a cognitive basis. Yet if we are all vulnerable to thinking in exclusionary ways—if everyone, from the most ardent social-justice advocates to bigots and xenophobes, has mental patterns and structures in common—could this shared flaw open new prospects for political rapprochement?
Liya Yu develops a novel political framework that builds on neuroscientific discoveries to rethink the social contract. She argues that our political selves should be understood in terms of our shared social capacities, especially our everyday exclusionary tendencies. Yu contends that cognitive dehumanization is the most crucial disruptor of cooperation and solidarity, and liberal values-based discourse is inadequate against it. She advances a new neuropolitical language of persuasion that refrains from moralizing or shaming and instead appeals to shared neurobiological vulnerabilities. Offering practical strategies to address those we disagree with most strongly, Vulnerable Minds provides timely guidance on meeting the challenge of including and humanizing others.
Liya Yu develops a novel political framework that builds on neuroscientific discoveries to rethink the social contract. She argues that our political selves should be understood in terms of our shared social capacities, especially our everyday exclusionary tendencies. Yu contends that cognitive dehumanization is the most crucial disruptor of cooperation and solidarity, and liberal values-based discourse is inadequate against it. She advances a new neuropolitical language of persuasion that refrains from moralizing or shaming and instead appeals to shared neurobiological vulnerabilities. Offering practical strategies to address those we disagree with most strongly, Vulnerable Minds provides timely guidance on meeting the challenge of including and humanizing others.
Liya Yu is a visiting fellow at the Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians University, and in the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University. In fall 2023 she will assume an assistant professorship at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. She holds a doctorate in political science from Columbia University. She is the coeditor (with Matt Qvortrup) of the Routledge Handbook of Neuropolitics (forthcoming 2024).
