Blog Posts

Consistent with our mission and values, as a multi-disciplinary research center that seeks to advance a world of belonging without othering, the Othering & Belonging Institute (OBI) conducts research, develops narrative strategy, and supports...

Editor's note: The ideas expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of the Othering & Belonging Institute or UC Berkeley, but belong to the author. All photos by Samir Gambhir. During my recent visit to Germany, the Memorial to the Murdered...

This is the third piece in a series from director john a. powell on the ongoing assaults on our democracy and communities, and how we may think about, respond to, and confront them. You can also watch our livestream conversation with john about this...

Could you knock on the door of someone that you disagree with and have an open, connecting conversation? In 2024, canvassers across five states set out with this very question in mind. This wasn’t your typical political canvassing. Instead, it was a...

Changes in the political order—globally and nationally—are part and parcel of human history. In 2025, the process of becoming less and less inclusive and democratic is seemingly leaving no country unscathed. The arc of history is bending in the...

This is the second in a series from director john powell on ongoing assaults on our democracy and communities, and how we may think about, respond to, and confront them. In my first piece for this series, I touched on core norms I believe many of us...

FIGHTING FORWARD is a new essay series OBI is releasing over the month of October authored by director john powell on the ongoing assaults on our democracy and communities, and how we may respond to and confront them. Essay 1: What We Share The...

This is the first in a series of discussion pieces we’re releasing this month from director john powell on ongoing assaults on our democracy and communities, and how we may respond to and confront them. Join us in a livestream conversation related to topics in this series on Wednesday October 15 at 10:00 am PST.

Join us in learning from UC Berkeley’s graduate students in two new policy memos on housing policy for belonging, adapted from their much longer student projects! These memos offer lessons for advocates, funders, legislators, and other change-makers...

Editor's note: The ideas expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of the Othering & Belonging Institute or UC Berkeley, but belong to the author. -- The Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley in the 1960s was a movement born from civil...

For the past ten years or more, I’ve had the sense that debates on migration policy keep looping back on themselves, like a political Groundhog Day–at least, on the surface. Amongst most of the political leadership in Europe and North America, the predominant themes, once the remit of far-right politicians, seem to stay the same...

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.

Julia McKeown's tattoo inspired by the poetry of Andrea Gibson. “When I left my body I did not go away. That portal of light was not a portal to elsewhere, but a portal to here. I am more here than I ever was before.” From Love Letter From the...

Caption: Movement groups film 'Power in Belonging' video series in Santa Ana, CA alongside OBI staff. Production by Time of Day. In OBI’s community-engaged research, we often hear community members and neighbors express a readiness to bridge that...

Othering and Belonging Institute’s Jose Richard Aviles reflects on their experience at “Queen Bey’s” Cowboy Carter tour performances in L.A., and how it helped them to radically imagine a new world. I didn’t grow up with much country music—save one...