The Othering & Belonging conferences are organized by the Othering & Belonging Institute (OBI), a research and action center housed at the University of California, Berkeley.
Illustrating OBI’s commitment to public engagement and the power of gathering, the O&B Conferences are dynamic, immersive, and highly interactive gatherings that prioritize relationship-building, meaning-making, and building collective strategies that allow us to strengthen movements and build a truly more inclusive "we." Conference programming is designed to help us collectively grapple with some of the following questions:
- How can we create systems and policies that work for all of us?
- What new or re-calibrated institutions are needed to realize a diverse and inclusive society?
- How do we co-create and and amplify narratives that underscore that belonging is unconditional and an inherent, self-evident right for all people?
- How does understanding and practicing bridging help inform our work?
- How can we illuminate ways to work across shared values, including moral, constitutional, and ecological?
- How do we make clear connections between global and regional dynamics and strategies for confronting authoritarian capture, bolstering democratic values, and expanding belonging?
We know our conference is successful when attendees leave feeling empowered to practice bridging and belonging in their own contexts. Our goals for this year's conference include:
- Attendees leave with inspiration, shared purpose, and actionable ways forward to building inclusive, pluralistic democracies
- The conference provides a coherent, compelling vision of belonging without othering, and the concrete tools and connections to help build it
- Clear lessons are gleaned from Kentucky, the US South, and regional movements and leaders on struggles and strategies against structural marginalization
- Attendees leave with a deeper understanding of economic and material belonging and the threat of extreme inequality
- Participants are provided with a robust understanding of how bridging strengthens democracy, and the conference provides ways to practice it
- Ways to deepen relationships, networks, and partnerships are embedded throughout, and nurtured in ways that can be sustained beyond the conference