This chapter explores and analyses the roots of community organising as seen in the work of Saul Alinsky. Reference is made to Alinsky's classic texts, Rules for radicals (1971) and Reveille for radicals (1989), as well as commentaries on Saul Alinsky by Nicholas von Hoffman (2010) and Sanford D. Horwitt (1989). The chapter seeks to understand and critique the underlying ideas and practices that informed the development of community organising through the initial development of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), and explores the contribution that Alinsky as an individual made to that process.

Definitions of community organising

Community organising is a term that describes an approach to organisation building and social action developed in the US from the late 1930s onwards. Within this approach organisations of organisations are established. These are usually made up of block clubs, associations, churches and labour unions, but could also include families and individuals. Their intention is to build power in order to achieve changes in policy and practice within institutions that have an impact on the community, by deploying a range of electoral and non-electoral strategies and tactics that allow them to enter into negotiations with institutional decision makers. In the absence of mutually acceptable agreements, more confrontational approaches, such as non-violent disruption, public shaming, economic action (strikes and boycotts) and mass lobbying for reform programmes and legislation, are also deployed (Miller, 2010). The power of mass participation is also used to develop mutual aid projects and alternative institutions such as co-ops, credit unions and support groups.