Saul Alinsky and the Dilemmas of Race: Community Organizing in the Postwar City

A groundbreaking examination of Saul Alinsky's organizing work as it relates to race, focusing on his attempts to grapple with the moral dilemma of race and provide a unique and comprehensive viewpoint on the politics of race, poverty, and social geography in the United States in the decades after World War II.

Format: Hardback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 15 September 2023
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Saul Alinsky, a renowned community organizer in American history, revolutionized the political landscape by introducing the concept of community federations. These organizations empowered neighborhood residents to define and advocate for their interests, leveraging the collective power of the community. Over a span of three decades, Alinsky and his Industrial Areas Foundation organized diverse groups such as Eastern European meatpackers in Chicago, Mexican Americans in California and Arizona, white middle-class homeowners on the outskirts of Chicago's South Side black ghetto, and African Americans in Rochester, Buffalo, Chicago, and other cities.

In his insightful examination, Mark Santow delves into Alinsky's efforts to address the pressing moral dilemma of his era: race. Santow highlights Alinsky's remarkable commitment to tackling issues of race both on paper and in the streets, across the color line, in influential institutions, and at the grassroots level in Chicago and Washington, DC. Through Alinsky's organizing and writing, we gain a unique and comprehensive perspective on the politics of race, poverty, and social geography in the United States in the decades following World War II. By examining Alinsky's ideas, actions, and organizations, Santow offers valuable insights into the construction, contestation, and maintenance of the metropolitan color line, shedding light on its impact on individuals and communities of different backgrounds. This book provides a fresh perspective on an epochal figure and the society he worked tirelessly to transform.

Dimension: 229 x 152 x 43 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226826271