Saul Alinsky: The “Father” of Community Organizing

Abstract

Saul Alinsky was not the first community organizer. Far from it. Organizers have existed in myriad forms since the very beginnings of human civilization. Alinsky was, however, the first person in America to fully conceptualize organizing as an approach separate from labor organizing. In Alinsky’s hands, community organizing became a coherent field of action and “community organizer” became a job description. His books, Reveille for Radicals in 1946 and then Rules for Radicals in 1971, became the central texts on collective action for the organizers that followed him. Today, nearly all community organizing groups in the United States are deeply influenced by his vision.¹

To hell with charity. The only thing you get is what you’re strong enough to get—so you had better organize.

—Saul Alinsky, The Alinsky Legacy