Read the latest news, commentary, and analysis from the Ash Center.
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American Spring? How nonviolent protest in the US is accelerating
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the size and scale of anti-Trump protests this year have dwarfed those in 2017, and they have been extraordinarily peaceful. This article was originally published in Waging Nonviolence.
AAPI Economic Prosperity: Building Strong Communities and Thriving Small Businesses Panel Event
The Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia and AAPI Student Caucus held a panel discussion featuring Qingjian (QJ) Shi and Jason Doo. The conversation delved into the vital challenges confronting AAPI-owned businesses including local government regulations, anti-Asian prejudice, access to capital, linguistic barriers, and more. They explored how government policy and nonprofit initiatives can address challenges faced by Asian American small businesses, as well as how economic justice is vital for thriving communities and democracies.
Panel 3 — Turning Up the Heat: Social Pressure for Organizational Accountability
When it comes to establishing accountability in institutions, how can pressure be deployed, and what can it help accomplish? This panel featured leading advocates who have used a range of social and political tactics to push for change. They shared how they and their collaborators have instigated these efforts and illuminate lessons we should glean from their work.
Panel 4 — Reckoning with History: Moving Beyond Organizational Accountability
This panel was part of the Truth & Transformation Conference 2023, hosted by the Instructional Antiracism and Accountability Project (IARA). In this session, panelists discussed real-world examples of historical reckoning and truth-telling, exploring how historical documentation, resources, and materials can be applied to antiracism work.
Truth and Transformation 2023: Panel 1 — Roadmaps: Charting Paths to Organizational Accountability
This panel was part of the Truth & Transformation Conference 2023, hosted by the Instructional Antiracism and Accountability Project (IARA). This panel featured advocates with years of experience establishing systems for accountability in their own organizations.
Truth and Transformation 2023: Panel 2 — (Re)writing the Rulebook: Reporting and Regulating for Organizational Accountability
This panel was part of the Truth & Transformation Conference 2023, hosted by the Instructional Antiracism and Accountability Project (IARA). In this panel, we examined how tools like analysis, metrics, and reporting are advancing within the private sector today and explored the impact of government insight on transparency and accountability.
Truth and Transformation 2023: Lunch Keynote by Christine Cordero
This panel was part of the Truth & Transformation Conference 2023, hosted by the Instructional Antiracism and Accountability Project (IARA). Christine Cordero’s keynote talk explored the strategic connections between stewarding a just transition from our fossil fuel infrastructure and building resilience in communities of color on the frontlines.
The Ash Center invites you to watch a book talk with contributors to When Democracy Breaks (Oxford, 2023), a new edited volume intended to deepen our understanding of what separates democratic resilience from democratic fragility — by focusing on the latter.
In new discussion paper, Stephen Goldsmith and Ryan Streeter lay out a case for a new, more aspirational conservatism
In a recently published discussion paper from the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School, Stephen Goldsmith and Ryan Streeter propose a new ideological framework for the conservative movement in the United States centered around aspiration, opportunity, and personal responsibility to help drive upward mobility.
5 ways that college campuses benefit from diversity, equity and inclusion programs
For more than half a century, colleges and universities have relied on dedicated programs to attract students of color and support them. Today, those programs – known as diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs – are under attack.