A cutout of john powell speaking at an event, his arms are raised and forward in a slight gesture. Behind him is a circle made of OBI's colors.
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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Othering & Belonging Conference

We're excited to be holding our next Othering & Belonging Conference in Oakland on April 25-27, 2024. The Othering & Belonging Conferences are dynamic and uniquely-curated gatherings that advance scholarship, narratives, movements, policies, and practices that support a more fully inclusive “we.”

Featured Work

Thousands of protester gathering at Grand Central Station demanding ceasefire in Gaza
  • Blog
  • November 1, 2023

We Belong to Each Other: A Call To End the Violence

With the death toll in Gaza climbing past 8,500 people , including more than 3,500 children , and hundreds more being killed each day in Israel's relentless bombardment of homes and other civilian infrastructure, we at OBI join a growing global...
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  • Publication
  • December 7, 2023

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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Introducing OBI University

Take free classes with us on our new learning platform to learn about structural marginalization and the processes of othering, and the building blocks of belonging. OBI University is also home to the 2023 O&B Conference Archive.

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
People targeted by facial recognition software
Technology & Belonging
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

Climate Displacement and Resilience Database

Bridging efforts to advance protections for people displaced by the climate crisis with efforts to build climate resilience, this interactive database joins global data on climate displacement, climate event exposure and vulnerability, emissions...

Featured Publications

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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Mini graphics illustrating the 13 crises described in the essay

Deconstructing the 'Housing Crisis'

For a several years now I’ve observed with growing alarm, then despair, as California’s housing woes—astronomical prices, skyrocketing rents and rates of annual appreciation, knee-jerk opposition to new housing, an epidemic of displacement and...
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Rebuilding Public Power

This 90-minute workshop dives into the history of how corporate power is organized in the United States and contemporary cases of how growing corporate power has rolled back successful gains in democratic rights, environmental justice, migrant...
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In the Media

Photo of a protest sign that reads "racism is a pandemic"

NBC News: US ranks 118th in the world for racial inclusion

The U.S. continues to underperform on an annual list that ranks inclusivity as experienced by marginalized groups in countries across the globe. The Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley tallies every year an...
A row of single-family homes in South Los Angeles

L.A. Times Opinion: The $1-million home is becoming the norm in L.A. This is an outrage we could have prevented

The median price of a home in Los Angeles will soon cross a startling threshold: $1 million. The median price of a home in California, meanwhile, is approaching $750,000, according to Zillow. That is more than double the national median and more than triple the figure in Ohio. This is the definition of housing unaffordability.
Illustration of diverse young people

The Hill: It’s time for a new approach to creating opportunities for all in education

Image: Shirien Creates for OBI x Fine Acts. "Let us use the Supreme Court decision banning affirmative action to push colleges and universities towards a long overdue overhaul of the admissions process altogether. We must, at the very least, develop...