Welcome to the UCSB Blum Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy

The UCSB Blum Center aims to foster interdisciplinary, socially engaged research and learning about poverty and inequality, and to contribute to collective action that advances intersectional economic and environmental justice regionally, in the United States, and abroad. Established with funding from UC Regent Richard C. Blum and the UC Office of the President, it is part of a campus-wide network across a number of UC campuses system.

This year the Blum Center is focusing on three core initiatives:

The Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative (CCREI) was launched in 2021 in partnership with The Fund for Santa Barbara. Building from the Central Coast Regional Equity Study, conducted in collaboration with USC’s Equity Research Institute, the initiative documents widening inequality in California’s increasingly diverse central coast counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo with trend data on  employment and wages, housing,  health, education, political  representation, and  environmental risk, among other indicators. In addition to funding collaborative community-engaged research, the CCREI  has set out to foster a collective, region-wide conversation and to advance a research-informed action agenda to improve the lives of all, and especially of the increasingly multi-racial working class communities who live, work, learn and contribute to the vitality of the region. 

Our initiative on Cooperative Economics encompasses a broad spectrum of collaborative endeavors, from the communal practices and empowerment strategies of indigenous communities to the support and exchange networks developed within the contemporary mutual aid movement. There is a rich tradition of cooperative endeavor in movements for racial and intersectional justice. Thanks to generous support from the family of Dr. U.S. Awasthi, UCSB faculty and students are eligible for funding opportunities. 

Our most recent efforts, the Central Coast Community Labor Project & Labor Summer initiative, will provide UCSB students with opportunities to learn about community and labor organizing and research practices. As part of the immersive Labor Summer internship experience, Central Coast unions and allied organizations will support UCSB students in paid internships to advance labor causes and achieve social and economic justice. 

We invite you to join us in the work and to stay informed about up-coming events and programs. We can be found on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and we also distribute a regular newsletter to our audience. Sign up to join our listserv!

See below for our most recent announcements & up-coming events:

April 26th - Cooperative Economics Workshop

Please join us for our Spring Quarter Cooperative Economics workshop this Friday, April 26th, from 2-4pm in HSSB 4020. We are pleased to feature Feminist Studies Hull Profess Eileen Boris and her collaborators Joann Lo with AFSCME Local 3930 and Madison Avila from the Sociology Department. Their project, entitled "Assessing a Home Care Cooperative," assesses the feasibility of establishing a home care cooperative in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

This work-in-progress presentation will be followed by a Q&A discussion. Light refreshments will be served.

Participate in-person or on Zoom. RSVP in advance for a Zoom link. All are invited! Additional questions can be sent to Nick Cohen at ncohen@ucsb.edu.

April 18th - DISCUSSION: End Poverty in California (EPIC)

Discussion: Ending Poverty in California: A Movement, A Plan, A More Equitable Future

When: Thursday, April 18th from 4:00-6:00pm

Where: HSSB 6020, the McCune Conference Room

What would a California without poverty look like? How would ending economic hardship advance freedom and well-being for all? This discussion with the community-based leaders of End Poverty in California (EPIC) will focus on a movement that aims to change the narrative about poverty—and California’s economic future. Use this link to learn more.

A reception will follow.

The Blum Center is co-sponsoring the event with the History Department and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center’s Imagining California series. Blum Center Director Dr. Alice O’Connor will moderate the panel. 

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If you would like to learn more about the Blum Center's initiatives, events, and ways to get involved in addressing poverty and inequality both on campus and in the community, please sign up for our newsletter here.