UC Berkeley’s flagship institute for social science research

Our purpose is captured in our name: we provide an organizational framework—a “matrix”—that supports cross-disciplinary research pursued by social scientists across the University of California, Berkeley campus and beyond.

Authors Meet Critics

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Event Date: April 7th, 2026
12:00 PM to 1:30 PM PT

Trevor Jackson: “The Insatiable Machine: How Capitalism Conquered the World”

Join us for a panel on "The Insatiable Machine," by Professor Trevor Jackson, which traces capitalism’s development from the accidental construction of an international monetary system to the creation of banking, the emergence of a new form of slavery, fossil–fuel industrialization, and finally the global capitalist system spread by imperialism.

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Interview

Article and News

Published July 29, 2020

Q&A: Dan Lindheim on Police and the Community

An interview with the former Oakland City Administrator — and member of a new Matrix Research Team on police and the community.

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Matrix News

News

Published June 25, 2020

2020-2021 Matrix Research Teams Announced

Seven new interdisciplinary teams will tackle emerging social-scientific topics

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Grants and Opportunities

Published June 2, 2020

2020 Social Science Division Distinguished Teaching and Service Awards

Raka Ray, Dean of the Division of Social Sciences, honors instructors for overcoming challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic

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COVID-19

Article

Published May 6, 2020

Disaster Preparedness and Seeking Equity Amidst COVID-19

An interview with Sarah Vaughn, Assistant Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Anthropology, on how different communities prepare for and respond to pandemics and disasters.

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Health

Published April 29, 2020

Berkeley Interpersonal Contact Study

Researchers from the UC Berkeley Department of Demography use survey methods to measure the effect of "social distancing."

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Inclusion

Published April 22, 2020

COVID-19 is Blind to Legal Status, but Can Disproportionately Hurt Immigrants

 COVID-19 is blind to legal status, but can still disproportionately hurt immigrants, argue Jasmijn Slootjes and Irene Bloemraad from the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative.

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