California Institute for Rural Studies California Institute for Rural Studies WHY WE DO OUR WORK CIRS works to radically transform rural California as systems of oppression and extraction give way to systems which are lifeaffirming sensitive to many types of knowledge equitable and reflective of the rich cultural landscape of rural California. HOW WE WORK CIRS creates researchbased tools for action in partnership with rural communities of color who are working to eradicate white supremacy take down colonial power structures and replace dysfunctional institutions. WHO WE ARE We understand the history of systemic violence towards Black Indigenous and farmworker communities in rural California who have often been made invisible or who have been the subjects of research while being denied control over research agendas and platforms to tell their own stories. Our staff board and closest partners come from rural places that have been sites of extraction throughout the history of California.