A group photo of OBI staff
WE ALL BELONG IN THE CIRCLE OF HUMAN CONCERN

Othering is the problem of our time. Belonging is the solution.

The Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley advances groundbreaking approaches to transforming structural marginalization and inequality. We are scholars, organizers, communicators, researchers, artists, and policymakers committed to building a world where all people belong.

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Featured Content

Inclusiveness Index 2024

The Index examines the degree of inclusivity experienced by marginalized groups across the globe and within the United States. Now in its ninth year of publication, it is more comprehensive than ever before with 23 more countries than the previous year and new measures for climate change.

Featured Work

john powell on stage; a screen behind him shows a diagram representing exclusion, inclusion, and belonging
  • Video
  • November 18, 2024

Belonging in Practice: Shaping Inclusive Systems Throughout the World

On November 18, john a. powell served as the keynote speaker at the 2024 Global Opportunity Youth Network convening in Pune, Maharashtra, India. His keynote presentation reflects on the many forms of othering as well as the tactics, frameworks, and infrastructures that we must build to make belonging a global norm.
A collage of authoritarian populist leaders
  • Publication
  • December 2, 2024

Fear, Grievance, and the Other

The goal of this paper is to provide a primer on key concepts that help us understand the rise, strategies, and tactics of exclusionary, nativist, and populist movements today, and to advance the framework of authoritarian populism as an analytical tool that informs practical efforts to combat these movements, address structural marginality, and advance democracies rooted in belonging.
Billboard in Richmond, CA reads: Richmond Deserves Clean Air & Water
  • Blog
  • November 19, 2024

Blog: Getting Free From Corporate Political Domination

The Democrats’ historic loss of working class voters across race and gender lines has led to some debate and hopefully soul-searching about how the party can win back the support of working class voters, and what has prevented the party from an...

Areas of Work

The faculty, staff, researchers, and affiliates of the Othering & Belonging Institute work together with multidisciplinary approaches to learn, research, and construct solutions for society's most pressing issues. Our programs and initiatives are all designed to effect transformative change.

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Areas of Work

The faculty, staff, researchers, and affiliates of the Othering & Belonging Institute work together with multidisciplinary approaches to learn, research, and construct solutions for society's most pressing issues. Our programs and initiatives are all designed to effect transformative change.

SEE ALL AREAS
Collage of square photos framed in white
Arts and Cultural Strategy
Gradient with conference logo
Othering & Belonging Conference
Illustration of two hillsides — one tinted blue, one green — descend on a waterway from opposite sides. The hillsides are close but do not touch; instead, they are connected by a small bridge.
Bridging & Belonging
Painting of indigenous people belonging to the Lummi Nation looking to the horizon. The figures at the foreground face away from the viewer, and we see colorful traditional garb. In the background is a dim, blue-grey body of water and a thin line of mountains far beyond.
Climate Justice
Flattened stylized illustration of three people — one woman with black hair, another woman with a white hat and brown hair, and a Black man with cropped black hair — all wearing masks with smiles printed on them.
Health
Watercolor illustration with the earth at the center with various foods — chicken, corn, peppers, mangoes, and so on — revolving around it. We see mostly South America, Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean as well as partial views of Europe and North America.
Food Systems
The San Francisco Bay is reimagined in a temporally collapsed manner; in the foreground, indigenous Ohlone people gather on marshland and in boats, smoke from fires rising above their village. In the background, we see the present-day skyline of San Francisco filled with skyscrapers and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Housing
microsite banner islamophobia
Islamophobia
Close-up illustration of a large hand writes with a pencil; four small figures including one person in a wheelchair hold the hand up
Narrative Power
An illustration featuring tens of people ascending an escalator at four different levels. The escalator zig-zags left and right, alternating at each level. The illustration is on a bright yellow background and blue foreground.
Targeted Universalism
Featured Content

Transformative Research Toolkit

Introduction We have seen and participated in transformative research strategies that defeated proposed jail expansions, won millions of dollars for community-prioritized programs, and built new community-led organizations that changed a political...

Featured Publications

Illustration of figures linked in stride

Bridging and Power Building Paper Series

This series looks at the longstanding art and science of organizing, in relation to today’s social dynamics. Our premise is that for us to build power, we need to bridge across lines of difference in ways more radical than ever before. This series is authored by a working group from across California...
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Principles for Reframing the National Security Narrative

Our public discourse is seeded with dangerous and counterproductive ideas concerning national security that are so deeply embedded we may often be unaware that we, as story tellers, are invoking or reinforcing them in our own narrations. Thus, over...
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Image grab from structural racism video.

Structural Racism Explained

The “Structural Racism Explained” video draws upon many varied sources in formulating specific definitions for different types of racism. The video and prompts provided in this video and teaching guide are designed primarily for teachers to help students clarify and sharpen their understanding of the material.
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In the Media

apartment buildings in New York

NYT: Why ‘Affordable Housing’ in New York City Can Still Cost $3,500 a Month

The New York Times cites our national segregation research in a November 19 article, titled, " Why ‘Affordable Housing’ in New York City Can Still Cost $3,500 a Month." The article reads: "Some of the most popular neighborhoods are affordable to only...
power of bridging book cover
  • December 9, 2024

john a. powell talks to Star Tribune, KQED about new book on bridging

The Minnesota Star Tribune earlier this month published an interview with OBI Director john a. powell about his new book, The Power of Bridging: How to Build a World Where We All Belong. “What bridging says is, ‘Let’s take the time to be curious...
john a. powell wearing a "Bridging" hat and smiling.

Berkeley News: Bridging divides: from anger and mistrust to belonging — and hope

In this Berkeley News story, Othering and Belonging Institute director john a. powell and OBI Campus Bridging Project leader Julia Mckeown share expertise and perspective around ways to bridge at UC Berkeley during a polarizing time.
john signing copy of Belonging without Othering

Nonprofit Quarterly: A conversation with john a. powell on how to achieve belonging without othering

OBI Director john a. powell speaks with Nonprofit Quarterly about his new book, co-authored with OBI Assistant Director Stephen Menendian, Belonging Without Othering: How We Save Ourselves and the World. This is the first of a two-part interview.
Archived photo of freed Black slaves standing in a field.

Washington Post: What to know about Juneteenth and its historical significance

June 19 became a kind of July 4 celebration for African Americans, john a. powell, the director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California at Berkeley, told The Post. “It’s particularly important for African Americans...
Racial justice protestors marching, one person holds a sign reading "It's 2020... Why are we still Asking 4 Equality?"

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: A Hopeful New Way to Pursue Racial Equity

When john a. powell arrived at the University of California at Berkeley about a decade ago, he found a competition that spoke to a struggle outside academia. The nationally renowned civil-liberties scholar (who spells his name all lowercase) had been picked to lead...
Donald Trump stands at a podium wearing a red tie and Navy suit about to speak at a rally. Trump signs displayed by attendees in the background.

Berkeley News: Facing legal peril, Trump stokes racial resentment in his base

UC Berkeley scholars, including Othering & Belonging Institute Director john a. powell, say that by attacking the prosecutors and judges in his cases, the former president is trying to discredit the charges, rally supporters — and undermine the rule...
Professor Osagie Obasogie smiling

Berkeley Public Health: The legacy of eugenics

Professor Osagie Obasogie has teamed up with the Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB) to launch a two-year project called Legacies of Eugenics. It’s a national conversation on the history of eugenics and the ways it still shapes various aspects of...