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Other: Race, Sex, and the Hidden Harms of Human Categories
Not yet published
Expected 26 Jan 27“One of the world’s best science writers.”—Ed Yong, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of An Immense World
From the award-winning and bestselling science journalist comes a groundbreaking exposé of the hidden harms of race and sex data across medicine, education, politics, and society at large.
Daily we are asked—on government forms, at the doctor’s office, by schools and employers and even social platforms—to mark our sex and race, with the tacit understanding that in doing so we are contributing, somehow, to the greater good. But as Angela Saini shows in this gripping reassessment of data and identity, we have sleepwalked into a minefield.
Other takes us from the idealistic 1960s, when categories used to divide people were repurposed to administer equal rights, to today, when they have been twisted back to their original purpose. Governments from the United States to Hungary have narrowed their definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ to curb reproductive freedoms; rogue researchers are mining medical data in the hunt for spurious links between race and intelligence; and lawmakers are using census maps intended to protect civil rights for racial gerrymandering. Latin American countries that once abandoned race categories on their censuses are bringing them back and in 2027, the Indian census will classify people by caste for the first time since 1931. The rise of artificial intelligence is supercharging it all, with China using ethnicity ‘recognition’ technologies to track minorities and opaque private firms like Palantir entrusted with government data to manage migration and health.
Making an original, progressive case for leaning away from categorization, Saini urges us to consider what we lose when we are placed in a box. As race and sex categories move back into the hands of those seeking to divide, she argues that there is more to gain from escaping classification than we might imagine. Freedom lies in recognizing that the only category that truly captures any of us is the final option on any form, the one that defies definition: “Other”.
From the award-winning and bestselling science journalist comes a groundbreaking exposé of the hidden harms of race and sex data across medicine, education, politics, and society at large.
Daily we are asked—on government forms, at the doctor’s office, by schools and employers and even social platforms—to mark our sex and race, with the tacit understanding that in doing so we are contributing, somehow, to the greater good. But as Angela Saini shows in this gripping reassessment of data and identity, we have sleepwalked into a minefield.
Other takes us from the idealistic 1960s, when categories used to divide people were repurposed to administer equal rights, to today, when they have been twisted back to their original purpose. Governments from the United States to Hungary have narrowed their definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ to curb reproductive freedoms; rogue researchers are mining medical data in the hunt for spurious links between race and intelligence; and lawmakers are using census maps intended to protect civil rights for racial gerrymandering. Latin American countries that once abandoned race categories on their censuses are bringing them back and in 2027, the Indian census will classify people by caste for the first time since 1931. The rise of artificial intelligence is supercharging it all, with China using ethnicity ‘recognition’ technologies to track minorities and opaque private firms like Palantir entrusted with government data to manage migration and health.
Making an original, progressive case for leaning away from categorization, Saini urges us to consider what we lose when we are placed in a box. As race and sex categories move back into the hands of those seeking to divide, she argues that there is more to gain from escaping classification than we might imagine. Freedom lies in recognizing that the only category that truly captures any of us is the final option on any form, the one that defies definition: “Other”.
288 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication January 26, 2027
About the author
Angela Saini
6 books735 followersAngela Saini is an award-winning journalist and Assistant Professor of Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her writing has appeared in National Geographic, Wired, and Foreign Policy, and she has presented many radio and television documentaries for the BBC. Angela has a Masters in Engineering from the University of Oxford. She has called London, Oxford and New Delhi home at various times, and now lives between New York and Boston.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Other discusses how society collects data about us and how we are constantly being categorised. It seems that every form we fill in asks about our sex and race and we are told this is a positive thing. In 1960s America, it was necessary to categorise people in order to give people equal rights. For example, it was important to categorise people by race as different races faced different types of discrimination. Indians (people from India the country, not native Americans) were categorised as Caucasian when they wanted to be seen as Indians in order to not face discrimination and get the same benefits for their community that the Black community and Chinese community was getting. Often Indians, Japanese, and Chinese communities got lumped together as Asian but they wanted to be seen as distinct groups that faced different challenges. Now though, labels are being used to discriminate against people with more right wing politicians using labels to take away freedoms, control populations and collect data that is sold to private companies.
I had a good time reading this and I will be recommending this book. I’ve had to fill out a lot of forms recently and I noticed how much data I had to put in about myself. Race, age, sex, sexuality and religion. I don’t like putting this information in about myself because I don’t believe it serves a purpose so it’s no surprise I agreed with this book. Collecting data about race is strange because every country has different demographics so in a place like England, there are less racial ‘minorities’ than white people but in India, there are obviously more Indians than white people and India is now starting to collect data on castes. Despite their being lower levels of racial ‘minorities’ than whites in England I am always seeing more right wing politicians using data about minorities to suggest conspiracies like the great replacement so data is not always used for good.
This author discusses how many scientists have misused data in order to produce certain results and how people just don’t understand statistics. People use the demographic data and then misinterpret the statistics which causes real harm to real communities. This is especially dangerous in the field of medicine as the author discusses how some scientists believed black and white people were different races genetically and therefore, black people had different medical issues and needed different treatments for the same conditions white people had. This is obviously wrong as we know there is once race which is the human race. The issues that black people can face within the healthcare system are mainly due to social factors rather than genetic differences. I had a good time reading this book and I found it to be enlightening. I’m giving this book four stars because whilst I enjoyed this, I do think it could have been good for the author to discuss other categories like age, religion and sexuality. It would have been interesting to see how data on age has been used but other than that, I think this is a well researched book with strong references to support Saini’s points.
Other discusses how society collects data about us and how we are constantly being categorised. It seems that every form we fill in asks about our sex and race and we are told this is a positive thing. In 1960s America, it was necessary to categorise people in order to give people equal rights. For example, it was important to categorise people by race as different races faced different types of discrimination. Indians (people from India the country, not native Americans) were categorised as Caucasian when they wanted to be seen as Indians in order to not face discrimination and get the same benefits for their community that the Black community and Chinese community was getting. Often Indians, Japanese, and Chinese communities got lumped together as Asian but they wanted to be seen as distinct groups that faced different challenges. Now though, labels are being used to discriminate against people with more right wing politicians using labels to take away freedoms, control populations and collect data that is sold to private companies.
I had a good time reading this and I will be recommending this book. I’ve had to fill out a lot of forms recently and I noticed how much data I had to put in about myself. Race, age, sex, sexuality and religion. I don’t like putting this information in about myself because I don’t believe it serves a purpose so it’s no surprise I agreed with this book. Collecting data about race is strange because every country has different demographics so in a place like England, there are less racial ‘minorities’ than white people but in India, there are obviously more Indians than white people and India is now starting to collect data on castes. Despite their being lower levels of racial ‘minorities’ than whites in England I am always seeing more right wing politicians using data about minorities to suggest conspiracies like the great replacement so data is not always used for good.
This author discusses how many scientists have misused data in order to produce certain results and how people just don’t understand statistics. People use the demographic data and then misinterpret the statistics which causes real harm to real communities. This is especially dangerous in the field of medicine as the author discusses how some scientists believed black and white people were different races genetically and therefore, black people had different medical issues and needed different treatments for the same conditions white people had. This is obviously wrong as we know there is once race which is the human race. The issues that black people can face within the healthcare system are mainly due to social factors rather than genetic differences. I had a good time reading this book and I found it to be enlightening. I’m giving this book four stars because whilst I enjoyed this, I do think it could have been good for the author to discuss other categories like age, religion and sexuality. It would have been interesting to see how data on age has been used but other than that, I think this is a well researched book with strong references to support Saini’s points.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A powerful book examining the misuse of race and sex data in medicine, politics and society.
The book begins with a powerful epigraph taken from
James Baldwin’s 1949 novel, Everybody’s Protest Novel, noting that “our passion for categorization . . . has lead to . . . paradoxical distress, confusion, a breakdown in meaning . . . .” It’s divided into three parts: Sex (why do countries want this; and the need to understand women are not just sex statistics); Race (how this keeps racism alive; how the achievement gap is now the poverty gap; and medicine discriminates on race); to The Future (the effects of AI and what’s that “other” category about)
The author’s incredible history of the evolution of race and sex data collection is beautiful to read. It was particularly interesting to read about the historical reason Catholic Church remains such a bastion of maleness - but frankly these men were just uncomfortable with their sexual urges so they had to confine women to the sinner role (that’s my opinion not the author’s - read Jesus Wept by Philip Shenon). Current American politics with its anti DEI politics also is skewing the data. The underrepresented of minorities in medical studies is examined. Pointing to a Northwestern tally by Jonathan Kahn that shows the references to race in clinical trials increased in medical journals, the author notes that many of these did look at the reasons for poorer health among minorities (though right before the end of the Biden administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) was requiring Medicare Advantage plans to create committees to review and analyze care for its minority membership to ensure their utilization management decisions didn’t disadvantage them - I shortly left my Medicare consulting role so don’t know where this requirement sits but I was impressed by this). Finally in discussing the “other” category about race and ethnicity, the author writes “Classification required people to deny the reality of their lives and instead submit to the myth that they are categorically different, that even being related to someone did not make them the same.” There’s more to race than just a color or gender.
I had read a fictional novel awhile back where a black character born in France could not be considered French for not being white if I remember correctly. So I was not surprised by the author’s comment that in Britain racists there believe the same thing. She concluded she considers every classification box “ephemeral” and “only ever proxies for the truth.” Classification only divides us.
Highly recommend for its relevant topic, it’s well researched and written explanations and for being very eye opening - all contributing to my five star rating.
My thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for granting me access to this ARC.
The book begins with a powerful epigraph taken from
James Baldwin’s 1949 novel, Everybody’s Protest Novel, noting that “our passion for categorization . . . has lead to . . . paradoxical distress, confusion, a breakdown in meaning . . . .” It’s divided into three parts: Sex (why do countries want this; and the need to understand women are not just sex statistics); Race (how this keeps racism alive; how the achievement gap is now the poverty gap; and medicine discriminates on race); to The Future (the effects of AI and what’s that “other” category about)
The author’s incredible history of the evolution of race and sex data collection is beautiful to read. It was particularly interesting to read about the historical reason Catholic Church remains such a bastion of maleness - but frankly these men were just uncomfortable with their sexual urges so they had to confine women to the sinner role (that’s my opinion not the author’s - read Jesus Wept by Philip Shenon). Current American politics with its anti DEI politics also is skewing the data. The underrepresented of minorities in medical studies is examined. Pointing to a Northwestern tally by Jonathan Kahn that shows the references to race in clinical trials increased in medical journals, the author notes that many of these did look at the reasons for poorer health among minorities (though right before the end of the Biden administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) was requiring Medicare Advantage plans to create committees to review and analyze care for its minority membership to ensure their utilization management decisions didn’t disadvantage them - I shortly left my Medicare consulting role so don’t know where this requirement sits but I was impressed by this). Finally in discussing the “other” category about race and ethnicity, the author writes “Classification required people to deny the reality of their lives and instead submit to the myth that they are categorically different, that even being related to someone did not make them the same.” There’s more to race than just a color or gender.
I had read a fictional novel awhile back where a black character born in France could not be considered French for not being white if I remember correctly. So I was not surprised by the author’s comment that in Britain racists there believe the same thing. She concluded she considers every classification box “ephemeral” and “only ever proxies for the truth.” Classification only divides us.
Highly recommend for its relevant topic, it’s well researched and written explanations and for being very eye opening - all contributing to my five star rating.
My thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for granting me access to this ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley.
It has been a long time since I really felt like I've came away from a non-fiction book with genuinely interesting things to share. After each chapter I found myself having full discussions with my partner about what I'd learned and I think this was the magic with this book. It took the topic of classification which objectively is quite 'boring' and delved into it providing both an academic and human perspective on how classification is so rooted in society. I also loved how measured all discussion were with Saini explaining the whole history behind each topic.
Each chapter went in-depth into each it's own topic and felt focused. My favourite chapters were those discussing Women's Health and Manufacturing Categories, although I enjoyed each one throughly. I personally loved how dense each chapter was and feel like anyone who enjoys similar non-fiction works will appreciate this.
I honestly look forward to reading more by Angela Saini who provided a well researched and impactful exploration of a topic so fundemental to how we experience daily life.
It has been a long time since I really felt like I've came away from a non-fiction book with genuinely interesting things to share. After each chapter I found myself having full discussions with my partner about what I'd learned and I think this was the magic with this book. It took the topic of classification which objectively is quite 'boring' and delved into it providing both an academic and human perspective on how classification is so rooted in society. I also loved how measured all discussion were with Saini explaining the whole history behind each topic.
Each chapter went in-depth into each it's own topic and felt focused. My favourite chapters were those discussing Women's Health and Manufacturing Categories, although I enjoyed each one throughly. I personally loved how dense each chapter was and feel like anyone who enjoys similar non-fiction works will appreciate this.
I honestly look forward to reading more by Angela Saini who provided a well researched and impactful exploration of a topic so fundemental to how we experience daily life.
Want to Read
August 24, 2026Is it really an exposé when it's so obvious that it is happening?
On the other hand, we knew about racism and patriarchy and those books still had some new facts and insights so I'm tentatively optimistic (even though I'm struggling through Inferior)
On the other hand, we knew about racism and patriarchy and those books still had some new facts and insights so I'm tentatively optimistic (even though I'm struggling through Inferior)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews