395. Nilanjana Dasgupta with Paula Boggs: How Small Changes Can Make a Big Impact

How can one person fight for social justice? Can everyday people actually make changes in systemic, structural inequality? Social psychologist and author of the book Change the Wallpaper, Nilanjana Dasgupta offers science-driven answers to these questions, arguing that social shifts start with small changes to our “wallpaper,” or the things that we experience in our daily lives. In other words, we need to revise the hyperlocal cultures we live in to make broader change.

Dasgupta believes that these small shifts in our cultural “wallpaper” are far more effective in producing structural change than through popular movements such as bias awareness training, symbolic proclamations, or even just relying on people’s good intentions. By integrating a wide range of studies in psychology, neuroscience, education, sociology, economics, public health, urban studies, cultural geography, and even landscape architecture, Dasgupta shows how attitudes and beliefs are based on what we see and hear every day. They nudge our behavior to create or reinforce small inequalities that go unnoticed and ultimately accumulate over time. So, how do we change our wallpaper?

By consciously disrupting these patterns and habits, Dasgupta argues, we can create opportunities for social mixing across lines of differences, allowing new relationships to form, and promoting a better understanding of others’ experiences. These actions lead to organizing and larger social shifts. It’s through these small changes in our daily lives, Dasgupta explains, that we can all work toward justice.

Nilanjana Dasgupta, author of Change the Wallpaper, is Provost Professor of Psychology and inaugural Director of the Institute of Diversity Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is the author of many articles, the winner of the Hidden Bias Research Prize from the Kapor Foundation, and the recipient of multiple U.S. government research grants. Her work has been featured in the New York Times and other major outlets.

Paula Boggs is the founder of Boggs Media LLC. A TEDx speaker, U.S. Army veteran, and musician, she previously served for a decade as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary at Starbucks Corporation. Her career spans roles as Vice President Legal at Dell, law firm partner, Assistant U.S. Attorney, and U.S. Army captain. Appointed by President Obama to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, she actively serves on multiple nonprofit and corporate boards.

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