Saul Alinsky Research Articles

The Structure of Support in Social Movements: An Analysis of Organization and Resource Mobilization in the Youth Contra-Culture

Many social theorists have pointed to problematic aspects of viewing tile I g60s youth culture as an enduring form of social movement ;2 however these analyses spring largely from the traditional sociological frame that sees the frustration and deprivation of a population leading (more or less) directly to the rise of social movements.3 McCarthy and Zald, in their recent and cogent discussion of resource mobilization and social movement organizations,4 have pointed to the fact that this focus upon frustrations and deprivations is in opposition to the focus of practical theorists (such as Lenin, Mao Tse-Tung and Saul Alinsky), who have emphasized the ways in which particular social structures make the tasks of resource mobilization more or less diffieult.

A conceptual overview of selected consultation models.

Because of their current popularity and utility 4 consultation models have been selected for analysis: consultee centered, group process, social action, and ecological (exemplified by Gerald Caplan, Ronald Lippitt, Saul Alinsky, and James Kelly, respectively). The process of consultation as outlined by these models is described along the following dimensions: definitions of consultation, self-perceptions of the consultant, target populations, motivation of the client system, entry, goals, diagnosis, techniques, termination, and evaluation. The discussion focuses on criteria for selecting an appropriate consultation model.

The Knights and the Problems of Political Organizing in Sixteenth-Century Germany

The tribute given to Saul Alinsky on his death in 1972 indicates the attention paid in our age to the problems of community organizing. Most citizen groups formed in response to such threats as urban renewal, danger to the environment, or mandatory busing face problems of factionalism, inefficiency, lack of money, and even conflicting loyalties of their members, unless they have the direction of someone like Alinsky, who earned his reputation as a professional organizer. The alternative is to found a group imbued with an ideology which can be characterized as radical (“as a kind of mental and moral discipline”) and an organization which consequently reflects this discipline. The existence of such political organizations, “specially designated and organized bands of men [who] might play a creative part in the political world,” of individuals motivated to join forces “with any man who might help them without regard to the older bonds of family and neighborhood” have a historical origin: they were the contribution of the religious wars in sixteenth-century Europe. The Calvinists were the ancestors of the Bolsheviks.

Revolution and Justice

This paper is a reply to Terrence Hunt’s critique of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals. We contend that there are significant lines of argument that may be used to defend the underlying assumptions of Alinsky’s rules. While the rules themselves might be readily dismissed, the underlying position should not. Our effort to offer some defense on behalf of Alinsky is an effort to carryon where Hunt left off.

“Liberating America's Liberals”

Journal of Social PhilosophyVolume 3, Issue 2 p. 1-6 “Liberating America's Liberals” Saul Alinsky, Saul AlinskySearch for more papers by this author Saul Alinsky, Saul AlinskySearch for more papers by this author First published: April 1972 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9833.1972.tb00410.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume3, Issue2April 1972Pages 1-6 RelatedInformation

<bold>Rules for Radicals.</bold> By Saul Alinsky. New York: Random House, 1971. 196 pp. $6.95

<bold>Rules for Radicals.</bold> By Saul Alinsky. New York: Random House, 1971. 196 pp. $6.95

Alinsky's Ethics for Have-Nots: An Assessment

Abstract Saul Alinsky maintains that ethical assessments in community conflict situations tend to be distorted by an establishment point of view. He therefore offers a fresh analysis of ethical rules, free of establishment presuppositions, granting the organizer a wider range of alternative strategies. However, a careful examination of Alinsky's vaguely phrased ethical rules shows them to be, with few exceptions, either unacceptable or uninteresting; unacceptable (when taken in their obvious sense) because radically inconsistent with more fundamental moral commitments which everyone, Alinsky included, would be unwilling to give up; uninteresting (when interpreted to avoid the inconsistency) because they state obvious truisms about ethical conduct. Either way these rules offer ‘have-nots’ and organizers no real help.

Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky (Random House; 196 pp.; $6.95)

Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky (Random House; 196 pp.; $6.95)

Protest as a Political Resource

The frequent resort to protest activity by relatively powerless groups in recent American politics suggests that protest represents an important aspect of minority group and low income group politics. At the same time that Negro civil rights strategists have recognized the problem of using protest as a meaningful political instrument, groups associated with the “war on poverty” have increasingly received publicity for protest activity. Saul Alinsky's Industrial Areas Foundation, for example, continues to receive invitations to help organize low income communities because of its ability to mobilize poor people around the tactic of protest. The riots which dominated urban affairs in the summer of 1967 appear not to have diminished the dependence of some groups on protest as a mode of political activity.This article provides a theoretical perspective on protest activity as a political resource. The discussion is concentrated on the limitations inherent in protest which occur because of the need of protest leaders to appeal to four constituencies at the same time. As the concept of protest is developed here, it will be argued that protest leaders must nurture and sustain an organization comprised of people with whom they may or may not share common values. They must articulate goals and choose strategies so as to maximize their public exposure through communications media. They must maximize the impact of third parties in the political conflict. Finally, they must try to maximize chances of success among those capable of granting goals.

The Overlap Model: A Comparison of Strategies for Social Change

THE PLANNED elimination of poverty, with the involvement of the poor both as beneficiaries of and participants in ameliorative intervention programs, became a societal mandate with the passing of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Though it would be difficult to find anyone who would overtly disagree with the altruistic goal of ending poverty, the choice of the means toward that goal-the selection of the appropriate techniques or models for intervention-has been a hotly debated issue. In a recent paper, Frank Riessman writes that action programs which seek to organize the poor on their own behalf can be viewed as falling one of two camps: those within the (such as the Federally supported community action antipoverty programs under the Office of Economic Opportunity); and those of the (such as the New Student Left and the quasi-revolutionary approach of Saul Alinsky). Riessman then presents a systematic comparison of two outside-the-system action programs on such variables as target groups, goals, methods, and philosophic roots.1 It is Riessman's conclusion that social actionists functioning outside of the system and the various planners functioning the system have much to gain from mutual contact and exploration. From this union a much more rounded, meaningful strategy of change may emerge together with the necessary theoretic base.2

John L. Lewis; An Unauthorized Biography. By Saul Alinsky. (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1949. Pp. 387. $4.00.)

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