Publications

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.

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...

This report chronicles more than two years of research with the people of the Inland Empire — the two-county region of Southern California often seen as a periphery “at the margins” of Los Angeles. This research seeks to understand prevailing beliefs and narratives across different groups on ideas of community, economic opportunity, government, and more.

Introduction California’s convoluted system for raising revenue is not transparent, and confusing to the general public. Unless they closely follow wonky budgeting and legislative news, most people typically don’t learn about upcoming revenue...

Recent acute instances of failed political leadership—particularly around the pandemic and an ongoing lack of action to protect Black lives—have shone a bright light on questions essential to our future as a country: Who are we? Who are we becoming? Who must we become if we are to create a different world where everyone belongs?

Introduction In June of this year, we published the “Roots of Structural Racism” project examining the persistence and harmful effects of racial residential segregation in the United States from a number of angles. We examined trends, ranked cities...

Introduction From 2018 to 2020, we undertook a five-part investigation of racial residential segregation in the San Francisco Bay Area. We studied the nature and extent of racial residential segregation, demographic change, and harmful effects, using...

This paper begins by describing current housing affordability dynamics across Los Angeles and the Inland Empire. Although rent burden metrics help identify households vulnerable to instability, it is the underlying housing and work conditions that...

The Othering & Belonging Institute developed and administered this national survey between October 14 and November 2, 2020, among the US Muslim population (citizens and noncitizen residents who live and/or work in the US) to understand the prevalence...

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

School closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic created yet another opportunity for the surveillance industry to profit off of a national crisis and exacerbate harm to already marginalized students.

Just a few years ago, using software for remote test proctoring was rare, but since COVID-19 forced most schools to move online, remote test-proctoring software is now used by millions of students every month.

This report provides an overview of the current public conversation as it relates to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and algorithm-based artificial intelligence used in three interrelated domains that impact public health and social equity: the use of automated decision systems, surveillance, and social media.