What does it mean to practice bridging in a moment of deep polarization?
In her latest essay, Blanca Macias writes with clarity and conviction about why bridging is not a soft add-on to democracy. It is democracy’s muscle. It is the disciplined work of reaching across lines of difference without collapsing them, of refusing the easy slide into othering, of choosing connection in a time that rewards rupture.
Through her work with OBI’s Bridging for Democracy program, Macias reflects on what it actually takes to move beyond echo chambers and toward a larger “we.” Bridging is not about pretending we agree. It is not about sanding down our convictions. It is about creating intentional, structured spaces where we can encounter one another as full human beings — complex, contradictory, and worthy of belonging. Democracy does not survive on institutions alone. It depends on our capacity to bridge — across race and ideology, across geography and lived experience, across fear and misunderstanding. If we want a democracy that works for all of us, then we must practice the habits that make a shared future possible.
Read the full story and learn how Bridging for Democracy is cultivating this essential work.
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of the Othering & Belonging Institute or UC Berkeley, but belong to the author. |
|
|
Rest in peace, Yanar Mohammed
In a tribute published today, our Global Justice Program mourns the loss of Yanar Mohammed, a prominent Iraqi women's rights activist and human rights defender. Yanar was murdered by gunmen outside her home in Baghdad on Monday, March 2nd after returning to Iraq from Canada a few days prior. Yanar was a panelist in our Arab Women Feminist Visions webinar series last year. At the time, she said, "The feminist struggle is a global struggle, where we should be holding hands, we should be creating our forums and building our strengths and I will not say 'we can not overcome'— we will overcome, but when we will overcome, that is the question." We extend our condolences to her loved ones, her Iraqi community, and the global community of courageous feminist leaders and activists who everyday risk their lives to advance women's rights, gender equity, human rights, and democratic movements.
|
|
|
The Othering & Belonging Institute is co-hosting the 2026 International School on Climate Mobilities (ISCM) with the Beyond Climate Collaborative (BCC). Applications are now being accepted until March 7! As climate change reshapes everyday life, it raises urgent questions about who is forced to move, who can stay, and who is supported in return and recovery. These are not only questions of migration, but of belonging, who is protected, whose ties to place are recognized, and whose options are constrained by policy and inequality.
|
Blog: European Identity and the Question of Belonging
Read this new essay from our Senior Fellow, Hans Kundnani:
At a first glance, the European Union – and the European identity centred on it – might seem like a good example of what belonging without othering might look like. This is certainly how the EU would like to imagine itself. ... However, there is something surprising about imagining European identity as a kind of model for belonging without othering: historically, European identity has been closely connected to whiteness – a form of belonging that clearly involves othering.
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of the Othering & Belonging Institute or UC Berkeley, but belong to the author. |
|
|
Blog: Lies, Propaganda, and Culture: “Truthtellers” in the Authoritarian Populist Era Check out the latest blog from Míriam Juan-Torres, Head of OBI's Research, Democracy & Belonging Forum, framed around the Melania documentary. She writes:
In a way, the coverage of Melania the documentary encapsulates and mirrors much that is true about modern day authoritarian populist politics: It speaks to a reality of polarization, of irreconcilable perceptions, of lies and propaganda. The role of lies in politics is not unique to our times nor can it be reduced to a specific party or ideology. One needs only remember the “weapons of mass destruction” line used to justify the Iraq war in the early aughts. Having grown up in Spain, corruption-related lies have also been our bread and butter (from across the political spectrum).
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of the Othering & Belonging Institute or UC Berkeley, but belong to the author. |
Join us for the Legacies of Eugenics Conference
We're excited to invite you to a 2-day conference in April we're organizing on the legacies of eugenics, happening here in Berkeley. Our gathering will bring together leading researchers from around the United States to explore the persistence of eugenic logics and practices in science, medicine, and technology, and how we can build a better future.
|
|
|
Video: How Authoritarians Weaponize Gender
In case you missed it, Míriam Juan-Torres, Head of OBI's Research, Democracy & Belonging Forum participated in this online panel hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in which she broke down how authoritarian figures weaponize gender as a political strategy. She and her co-panelists Tara Chandra and Laura Livingston drew from their recent report, (En)Gendering Authoritarianism.
|
Join us on October 9-10, 2026 in Louisville, Kentucky for our next Othering & Belonging Conference! The conference will be an immersive, two-day gathering with over 1,500 people drawn from a diverse ecosystem of grassroots movements, research and academia, arts and culture, policymaking and government, philanthropy, business, among other sectors—united by a common purpose to securing inclusive, pluralistic democracies and building a bigger "we."
|
Work with us -
We are currently looking to hire a new Director of Communications. Click here to learn more about and apply to this position.
|
Together, we can make belonging the norm, not the exception. – The Othering & Belonging Institute |
Othering & Belonging Institute, University of California, Berkeley | Privacy Policy
2026 Copyright © Othering & Belonging Institute. All rights reserved. |
Othering & Belonging Institute
University of California, Berkeley
460 Stephens Hall
Tel: 510-642-3326
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States If you no longer want to receive our emails click (Unsubscribing is not supported in previews). |
|
|
|
