Bridging calls on us to reject a politics of us vs. them

Our new animated explainer gives a high-level snapshot of our analysis of bridging and breaking as possible responses in our current times. As john powell explains in the voiceover, "Of all the forces shaping politics and power around the world, perhaps none are more important than our sense of who we are, and who we are becoming." Having collective anxiety due to rapid change is a normal biological reaction, but how we respond to this anxiety is social. And our social responses are greatly shaped by the stories presented from those we look to as leaders and through the power of culture. We can respond to these changes either as a threat—breaking—or as an opportunity, bridging. Bridging call on us to reject a politics of "us vs. them" and instead move towards a future where there is a new "us." Watch this short video about bridging and breaking. 

Op-ed: Dialogue crucial after an election season marked by hate

Haas Institute Director john a. powell published a new opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle last week following the midterm elections with a call for national dialogue to assess where we are headed as a country following the spate of hate crimes witnessed in recent weeks. In the piece, powell also calls for people across the country of all political persuasions to denounce hate and white supremacy. "Calling out white supremacy and hate is not about being a Democrat or a Republican. It’s about the soul of our country and who we are as a people. It’s about reclaiming our democracy and resisting our shift toward authoritarianism. Instead we must give voice to what Abraham Lincoln called 'a new birth of freedom,' in his call to our better angels." Read the article here.

Is America possible? Building a multiracial democracy in an era of division

Our Senior Fellow Julie Nelson was a closing plenary panelist at last week's Facing Race conference in Detroit where she joined in a conversation on how we can think about the struggle for a democratic future in an era of rightwing demagoguery. Moderated by our director john powell, the speakers discussed strategies to stop authoritarianism and advance the promise and possibility of a true multiracial democracy. Watch a video of the panel here.

New Berkeley research initiative on health and working families

A number of Haas Institute-affiliated faculty scholars will be helping lead a new research hub at UC Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in Washington, DC that will explore the health effects of income and workplace policies. Michael Reich, Hilary Hoynes, Daniel Schneider, and Jesse Rothstein are all member of our Economic Disparities research cluster and four of six investigators from the IRLE participating in the initiative. Their focus will be on minimum wage laws, state and federal tax benefits, paid leave policies, work schedules, and other policies that help working parents. Learn more about this new initiative.

Islamophobia researcher gives talk at Bridging Institute in  Washingtong, DC 

Rhonda Itaoui, a visiting research fellow at the Haas Institute's Global Justice Program, gave a talk at the Bridging Institute in Washington, DC earlier this week where she presented the results of two recent independent studies around Islamophobia. Itaoui, who is visiting from Australia's Western Sydney University, presented on research that compares young Muslims' "mental maps" of Islamophobia and existing evidence of Sydney’s "geographies of racial attitudes." A video recording of the talk will be posted to our video page later this month. More details about the talk can be found here.

Institute scholar to edit journal series examining social impacts on health

Seth M. Holmes, member of our Diversity and Health Disparities research cluster, will be editing a new journal series in the New England Journal of Medicine highlighting the ways in which the social world impacts health, disease, and health care. "There is increasing recognition that the social world critically impacts health and health care," Holmes explained. "Many of the interventions, health systems, and health care practices in which we have engaged have proven woefully ineffective, leading core health professional institutions to make calls for increased skills in recognizing and responding to the social world." 

• Administrative Assistant
• Policy Brief Series - Graduate Student Position