The Institute for the Study of Societal Issues (ISSI) is UC Berkeley's hub for interdisciplinary social justice research. Since 1976, the Institute has been fostering qualitative and quantitative interdisciplinary research on the issues central to social stratification and inequality while training and supporting new generations of social change scholars.

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Recent Stories

Harm Reduction Practices in Sexualized Drug Use Among Sexual Minority Adults

November 6, 2026

Institute for the Study of Societal Issues alum Daryl Mangosing co-published a paper in Contemporary Drug Problems with Berkeley Center for Social Medicine faculty affiliate Mark Fleming and Evan vanDommelen-Gonzalez titled, “Exploring Harm Reduction Practices in Sexualized Drug Use Among Sexual Minority Adults in California.” This study explores how people who engage in sexualized drug use employ harm reduction strategies to...

Liminal Citizenship, Discretionary Power, and Guest Workers in the U.S. Food System

November 6, 2026

ISSI Associate Director Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern co-published a new paper in Geopolitics titled, “Liminal Citizenship, Discretionary Power, and Guest Workers in the U.S. Food System”. The article examines the U.S. H-2A and H-2B guest worker programmes to show how discretionary power is embedded in state labour migration governance. The authors’ findings document how guest worker programmes reinforce limited protections, precarious employment, and systemic...

Mexican state presence in corporate housing policy for farmworkers

November 6, 2026

Gerardo Rodriguez-Solis, a Visiting Scholar at ISSI, published a new article in Agriculture and Human Values titled, “Legitimizing segregation, subsidizing captivity: Mexican state presence in corporate housing policy for farmworkers”. Drawing on more than ten years of ethnographic and historical research in Mexico, the article questions agroindustrial enclaves and agribusiness housing policies by spotlighting the systematic actions of government agencies in...

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