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

Understanding Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism is rising around the world — threatening democracy, human rights, and the fundamental dignity of diverse communities. This resource library is a curated collection of articles, essays, tools, and analyses designed to help you...

Featured Work

  • Blog

Letter: Stop Starving Gaza

-- Editor's note: The ideas expressed in this letter are not necessarily those of the Othering & Belonging Institute or UC Berkeley, but belong to the signers.
  • Curriculum
  • July 2, 2025

A Resource Guide for Belonging-Builders

Around the world, people are seeking effective ways to build just, equitable, and inclusive institutions that can serve everyone without fueling fragmentation, division, and fear. At the Othering & Belonging Institute (OBI), we’ve answered this call...
  • Blog
  • June 13, 2025

john a. powell: Show them who we are 

As I watch what's unfolding in Los Angeles and across our nation, I'm reminded of something Gandhi understood deeply: the path we choose in moments of crisis shapes not just our immediate response, but the kind of society we become. Today, we face a...

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
Arts and Cultural Strategy
Othering & Belonging Conference
Bridging & Belonging
Climate Justice
Health
Food Systems
Housing
Islamophobia
Narrative Strategy
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

Racial Disparities Dashboard

This project provides data on critical life outcomes for American society, and highlights areas of progress and regress in closing disparities.
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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.
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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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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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Global South Lab

The Global South Lab intends to unearth the wealth of Global South experiences, perspectives, and visions to foster mutual understanding and deeper bridging, improve people's lives, and preserve our planet. To this end, the Lab intends to bring together a wide range of perspectives and visions from the Global South’s social movements, civic institutions, and public intellectuals to engage with global citizens in the South and the North on contemporary challenges and envision a future of belonging for all.
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The Structural Racism Remedies Repository

This a repository of policy-based recommendations for addressing structural and systemic racism or advancing racial equity drawn from a vast array of published material.
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In the Media

  • July 28, 2025

Berkeley News: This Berkeley scholar wants everyone to understand what ‘structural racism’ really means

In this Berkeley News feature, OBI Research Director Stephen Menendian discusses his newly released book "Structural Racism: The Dynamics of Opportunity and Race in America," which examines how American systems and structures perpetuate racial inequality beyond individual prejudice.
  • June 30, 2025

EL PAÍS USA Edition: ‘When fear wins, democracy crumbles’

OBI Director john a. powell was profiled in this comprehensive article with the US edition of the Spanish newspaper El Pais, titled, " john a. powell: ‘When fear wins, democracy crumbles’." The article reads: "[powell's] books contain an arsenal of...
  • May 12, 2025

KALW: Fair Housing in Bay Area, feat. Stephen Menendian

In KQED's State of the Bay episode: " Butterflies Back in Presidio, Fair Housing in Bay Area, Travel Tips with Matt Kepnes", OBI Assistant Director Stephen Menendian shares his expertise on fair housing challenges in the Bay Area, providing key...