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Economic Inclusion and Climate Equity

October 2018

By Manuel Pastor and Chris Benner
With Arpita Sharma, Edward Muña, Stina Rosenquist, and Vanessa Carter

Please note: reports dated earlier than June 2020 were published under our previous names: the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) or the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII).

As California faces off against the federal government on everything from immigration to climate change, the state has the opportunity to do something radically different: transform our infrastructure, education, workforce development, housing, and transportation systems for the 21st century.

Researchers at the USC Program for Regional and Environmental Equity (PERE) and the UC Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation have conducted a comprehensive review on the California economy to help shift the economy toward stability and prosperity for Black, Brown, Asian, and all communities.

The report, From Resistance to Renewal: A 12-Step Program for Innovation and Inclusion in the California Economy highlights ways that state government, California communities of all backgrounds, and businesses can partner for prosperity under a new social compact. By examining California’s recent history and building on the lessons learned in the Golden State, the authors aim to create a forward-looking vision for the economy. Our multisectoral analysis spans diverse industries and institutions to paint a nuanced picture—of where we have been and where we are going—covering everything from innovation to environmental justice to housing to universal basic income.

The authors emphasize investment in innovation and infrastructure, growing our workforce, connecting Californians to one another and to opportunity by tackling the housing crisis, transforming our transportation systems, and supporting struggling regions, while securing our future by reforming the tax system, building climate friendly infrastructure, strengthening our governance, and more.

Download report

Executive Summary
Full report

What are the 12 Steps?

STEP 1: Promote Innovation and Secure Public Benefits

STEP 2: Care for the Caring Economy

STEP 3: Empower and Equip Workers for Change

STEP 4: Encourage Lifelong Learning

STEP 5: Promote Lifelong Security

STEP 6: Support All of California’s Regions and Communities

STEP 7: Ensure Successful De-Incarceration and Reentry

STEP 8: Embrace and Integrate Immigrant CA

STEP 9: Ensure Affordable Housing for All

STEP 10: Improve the Movement of People, Goods, and Services

STEP 11: Secure Our Environmental Future

STEP 12: Align Fiscal and Governance Systems for an Inclusive Economy

Download the 12 steps as a PDF

Read our other publications by research area

    Immigrant Integration & Racial Justice

    Our work on immigrant integration and racial justice brings together three emphases: scholarship that draws on academic theory and rigorous research, data that provides information structured to highlight the process of immigrant integration over time, and engagement that seeks to create new dialogues with government, community organizers, business and civic leaders, immigrants and the voting public to advance immigrant integration and racial equity.

    Economic Inclusion & Climate Equity

    In the area of economic inclusion, we at ERI advance academic theory and practical applications linking economic growth, environmental quality, and civic health with bridging of racial and other gaps; produce accessible and actionable data and analysis through the data tools; and establish research partnerships to deepen and advance the dialogue, planning, and actions around racial equity, environmental justice, and the built environment.

    Social Movements & Governing Power

    ERI’s work in the area of governing power includes: conducting cross-disciplinary studies of today’s social movements, supporting learning and strategizing efforts to advance dialogues among organizers, funders, intermediaries, evaluators, and academics, and developing research-based social change frameworks and tools to inform—and be informed by—real-world, real-time efforts towards a vision of deep change.

    Publications Directory

    In 2020, the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) and the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) merged to form the USC Equity Research Institute (ERI).

    The full list of publications published under our previous and current names can be found in our publications directory.

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