Tools and Resources

The Othering & Belonging Institute and its partner organizations have produced videos, curricula, and trainings that explain and demonstrate the key concepts of the analysis around othering and belonging, bridging and breaking, strategic narrative, and related topics. Some of the tools and resources are available on this page.

Animated video on bridging

This explainer gives a high-level snapshot of our analysis of bridging and breaking as possible responses in a period of social anxiety as a result of rapid changes occurring in a number of areas, including demographics, technology, the environment, and globalization. A "breaking" response sees these changes as a threat to our societies and cultures. A "bridging" response sees the changes an opportunity to enhance who we are. Learn more here.

Curricula

The sister project of the Civic Engagement Narrative Change project is the Blueprint for Belonging project, also anchored by an Othering & Belonging Institute team. The team has collaborated with on-the-ground partners across California to develop curricula for training and political education designed to promote a progressive strategic narrative and bridging towards a shared identity. Click here to explore the B4B curricula.

Training Webinar

In this webinar, the staff of the Pennsylvania-based organization Beyond the Choir led an exploration of the "populist moment." What does it mean? How did we get here? And how do we navigate this landscape? The webinar examines how failures of the current social, economic, and political system have set the stage for the ascent of Trump. It breaks down an anatomy of Trump's reactionary populism: how it functions through a combination of "punching up" at social elitism and punching down at racialized scapegoats. Most importantly, it examines how an inclusionary populism that centers both race and class can succeed in this moment. It lands the theoretical concepts in their practical application in current on-the-ground organizing efforts, digging into how to go about reaching alienated voters, mobilizing new volunteers, and building the kind of long-term political power needed to win. It uses BTC's work in Pennsylvania as a case study.

Brief on How to Support Inclusive Participation

Civic Engagement Narrative Change researcher Joshua Clark authored this policy brief, which synthesizes lessons from recent research on how to confront voter disaffection, support inclusive identities, and increase democratic participation among underrepresented groups. The brief argues that many conventions of polling, categorizing, and engaging voters in campaign outreach reinforce chronic disparities in US election turnout. The brief concludes with a series of evidence-based recommendations for researchers, pollsters, political donors, and public officials on how to make their work supportive of broader and more inclusive civic participation. 

From Estrangement to Engagement: Bridging to the Ballot Box

This brief summarizes key insights and applications from research on strategy for expanding the electorate and fostering bridging across lines of difference for greater civic belonging. It is based on (1) the authors’ original research, both qualitative and quantitative, through the Othering & Belonging Institute’s Blueprint for Belonging and Civic Engagement Narrative Change projects, (2) secondary research by other scholars and applied researchers, and (3) lessons learned from leading voices in Black- and Latinx-led organizing efforts, through the authors’ ongoing collaborations and strategy dialogues with civic engagement and power-building organizations nationwide. The synthesis of research and experience offered here is geared toward application in the field in 2020.

Voters Rising Up: A Narrative Project for Civic Engagement 

This report outlines efforts by the Othering & Belonging Institute to expand its work of supporting civic participation among underrepresented groups. The Rise Up for Justice Narrative Hub was central to this work, bringing together researchers and strategists at the Institute with creatives and digital communication specialists to engage some of the leading Black- and Latinx-led power-building organizations around the country. The authors detail the innovative model and deliverables of the Narrative Hub’s get-out-the-vote campaigns for the 2020 general elections and the January 2021 Georgia Senate runoff elections.