WRITER

Saul Alinsky

1909 - 1972

Photo of Saul Alinsky

Icon of person Saul Alinsky

Saul David Alinsky (January 30, 1909 – June 12, 1972) was an American community activist and political theorist. His work through the Chicago-based Industrial Areas Foundation helping poor communities organize to press demands upon landlords, politicians, bankers and business leaders won him national recognition and notoriety. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Saul Alinsky has received more than 3,456,259 page views. His biography is available in 23 different languages on Wikipedia. Saul Alinsky is the 4,717th most popular writer (down from 3,782nd in 2019), the 6,403rd most popular biography from United States (down from 5,062nd in 2019) and the 514th most popular American Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 3.5M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 48.38

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 23

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.34

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.78

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

The professional radical
Community organization
Rules for radicals
Radicalism, Community organization, Political participation
Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals is the late work of community organizer Saul D. Alinsky, and his last book, published in 1971 shortly before his death. His goal for the Rules for Radicals was to create a guide for future community organizers to use in uniting low-income communities, or “Have-Nots”, in order to empower them to gain social, political, and economic equality by challenging the current agencies that promoted their inequality.[1] Within it, Alinsky compiled the lessons he had learned throughout his personal experiences of community organizing spanning from 1939-1971 and targeted these lessons at the current, new generation of radicals.[2] Divided into ten chapters, each chapter of Rules for Radicals provides a lesson on how a community organizer can accomplish the goal of successfully uniting people into an active organization with the power to effect change on a variety of issues. Though targeted at community organization, these chapters also touch on a myriad of other issues that range from ethics, education, communication, and symbol construction to nonviolence and political philosophy.[3] Though published for the new generation of counterculture-era organizers in 1971, Alinsky's principles have been successfully applied over the last four decades by numerous government, labor, community, and congregation-based organizations, and the main themes of his organizational methods that were elucidated upon in Rules for Radicals have been recurring elements in political campaigns in recent years
Call Me a Radical
Reveille for radicals
Community life, Community organization, Democracy
John L. Lewis
Manuel de l'animateur social
Organisation communautaire, Politique, Participation à la, Radicalisme
Rules for Radicals
The professional radical
Community organization
Reveille for radicals
Community life, Community organization, Democracy
John L. Lewis
Manuel de l'animateur social
Organisation communautaire, Politique, Participation à la, Radicalisme
Rules for radicals
Radicalism, Community organization, Political participation
Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals is the late work of community organizer Saul D. Alinsky, and his last book, published in 1971 shortly before his death. His goal for the Rules for Radicals was to create a guide for future community organizers to use in uniting low-income communities, or “Have-Nots”, in order to empower them to gain social, political, and economic equality by challenging the current agencies that promoted their inequality.[1] Within it, Alinsky compiled the lessons he had learned throughout his personal experiences of community organizing spanning from 1939-1971 and targeted these lessons at the current, new generation of radicals.[2] Divided into ten chapters, each chapter of Rules for Radicals provides a lesson on how a community organizer can accomplish the goal of successfully uniting people into an active organization with the power to effect change on a variety of issues. Though targeted at community organization, these chapters also touch on a myriad of other issues that range from ethics, education, communication, and symbol construction to nonviolence and political philosophy.[3] Though published for the new generation of counterculture-era organizers in 1971, Alinsky's principles have been successfully applied over the last four decades by numerous government, labor, community, and congregation-based organizations, and the main themes of his organizational methods that were elucidated upon in Rules for Radicals have been recurring elements in political campaigns in recent years
Rules for radicals
Radicalism, Community organization, Political participation
Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals is the late work of community organizer Saul D. Alinsky, and his last book, published in 1971 shortly before his death. His goal for the Rules for Radicals was to create a guide for future community organizers to use in uniting low-income communities, or “Have-Nots”, in order to empower them to gain social, political, and economic equality by challenging the current agencies that promoted their inequality.[1] Within it, Alinsky compiled the lessons he had learned throughout his personal experiences of community organizing spanning from 1939-1971 and targeted these lessons at the current, new generation of radicals.[2] Divided into ten chapters, each chapter of Rules for Radicals provides a lesson on how a community organizer can accomplish the goal of successfully uniting people into an active organization with the power to effect change on a variety of issues. Though targeted at community organization, these chapters also touch on a myriad of other issues that range from ethics, education, communication, and symbol construction to nonviolence and political philosophy.[3] Though published for the new generation of counterculture-era organizers in 1971, Alinsky's principles have been successfully applied over the last four decades by numerous government, labor, community, and congregation-based organizations, and the main themes of his organizational methods that were elucidated upon in Rules for Radicals have been recurring elements in political campaigns in recent years
The professional radical
Community organization
John L. Lewis
Rules for Radicals
Manuel de l'animateur social
Organisation communautaire, Politique, Participation à la, Radicalisme
Reveille for radicals
Community life, Community organization, Democracy

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Saul Alinsky ranks 4,717 out of 7,302Before him are Peter Seeberg, Shel Silverstein, Mamoni Raisom Goswami, James Thomson, Edward William Lane, and Fredrik Backman. After him are Robert B. Parker, Sanchuniathon, Cordwainer Smith, Michael Frayn, Edith Sitwell, and Dmitry Glukhovsky.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1909, Saul Alinsky ranks 277Before him are Eudora Welty, Jaime Lazcano, Mohammad Ali Bogra, Reinhold Münzenberg, Vagn Holmboe, and Carlo Agostoni. After him are Massimo Pallottino, Zellig Harris, Margaret Mee, Juan Carreño, Xie Fuzhi, and Leo Sexton. Among people deceased in 1972, Saul Alinsky ranks 174Before him are Alexander Bek, Reginald Owen, John Hutchinson, Charu Majumdar, Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer, and Carlo Agostoni. After him are Xie Fuzhi, Harold Rainsford Stark, Isak Abrahamsen, Adriaan Fokker, Edmund Wilson, and Julian Steward.

Others Born in 1909

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Others Deceased in 1972

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Saul Alinsky ranks 6,403 out of 20,380Before him are Annette Haven (1954), Eriq La Salle (1962), George Tenet (1953), Mädchen Amick (1970), Randal Kleiser (1946), and Charlie Dominici (1951). After him are Victor Buono (1938), Anne Shirley (1918), Isaiah Thomas (1989), Will Yun Lee (1971), Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (1917), and Robert B. Parker (1932).

Among WRITERS In United States

Among writers born in United States, Saul Alinsky ranks 514Before him are Louis Bromfield (1896), Mary McCarthy (1912), Jonathan Carroll (1949), Bo Goldman (1932), Helene Hanff (1916), and Shel Silverstein (1930). After him are Robert B. Parker (1932), Cordwainer Smith (1913), Rod Serling (1924), Damon Knight (1922), Aaron Sorkin (1961), and Jacqueline Susann (1918).