Featured Content

Paper Series: On Belonging in Europe

An encompassing and embracing experience of belonging may be one of the few utopian ideals that can — and, indeed, does — exist in the world. It is a feeling of intentional togetherness that anyone, anywhere can experience mentally, physically, and spiritually—its absence can also be felt acutely. Many are explicitly made to feel that they do not belong. Still, the possibility to feel belonging exists for everyone.
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A VISION OF AN INCLUSIVE FUTURE

Together, we are Othering & Belonging

The Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley is a vibrant hub of scholars, researchers, organizers, strategic communicators, policymakers, and community partners working to find new ways to identify and eliminate the barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable world.

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Featured Work

Lani
  • Blog
  • January 12, 2022
A tribute to my dear friend, Lani Guinier
As we begin to settle into 2022, my heart and mind are weighed down by the losses we suffered at the end of 2021 and the beginning of this year. With the normal flow of life and death I know there are always those passing on and those joining us...
An illustration of a tangle of arms holding voter ballots; one set of arms is red and attached to red stripes, and the other are blue, attached to the blue block and stars from the U.S. flag
  • Publication
  • January 5, 2022
Anti-Democracy Cascades
As efforts to secure voting rights at the federal level remain at a standstill, the most consequential legislation determining how we vote, who can vote, and how much our votes count continues to be made in state capitols. Throughout 2021, numerous...
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  • Blog
  • December 1, 2021
Covid-19: What Will We Remember?
What will we care to re-member about the era of the Covid-19 pandemic? Some events become a generational marker, an experience shared by so many in such profound ways that the ripples last decades. The “Great Depression” of the 1930s and the US war...

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
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Arts and Cultural Strategy
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
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Islamophobia
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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

Bridging to Belonging Case Series

This case series captures real-world examples of bridging to belonging through written cases and podcast interviews. In this series, we analyze a range of breaking moments and bridging opportunities across different scales and contexts, such as schools, movements, governments and communities. They “show and hear” how these concepts play out on the ground. We hear from leaders implementing the work, and individuals who have experienced the transformation of bridging to create belonging.

Featured Publications

A residential Oakland skyline with a HOLC redlining map in the background

What the 2020 Census reveals about segregation

As part of our ongoing research into racial residential segregation, we offer two new reports based on the latest demographic data of the San Francisco Bay Area and nationally using the recently-released 2020 Census. We've also significantly revamped our interactive web tool.
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Marchers in the 1960s demanding welfare rights

Fighting Poverty with SNAP

This report accounts for the value of SNAP in helping low-income individuals and families acquire food, particularly during times of economic hardship.
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Climate Refugees

This report argues that a comprehensive framework for climate-induced displaced persons forced to cross international borders to be considered “climate refugees” is necessary.
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Explore Othering and Belonging

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  • Video
  • August 12, 2021
Animated Explainer Video Series
Our animated explainer videos break down some of the key principles that guide our work at the Othering & Belonging Institute. Follow the links below to view the videos, to read transcripts of the audio, and to learn more about each concept.
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Feb
16
  • February 16, 2022, 5pm PST
The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom

This hybrid event will be held in person at Social Science Matrix, 820 Social Sciences Building, on the UC Berkeley campus. Physical attendance will be limited to 35 guests.

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  • Newsletters
E-Newsletter Archive
An Archive of past issues of our bi-weekly newsletter.