Saul Alinsky and the Chicago School

The Chicago School of Pragmatism is one of the most prominent intellectual and activist movements of the late 1800s and early 1900s, one that is receiving a fair amount of attention with the resurgence of American Pragmatism (Shook 2001). Initially led by John Dewey, the movement defies easy categorization and has influenced both scholars and social activists. Two of the most famous Chicago social activists of the twentieth century, Jane Addams and Saul David Alinsky, had ties to the Chicago School. While the relationship of Addams with the Chicago School has been persuasively shown (Seigfried 1996, Deegan 1988), the relationship with Alinsky, the "dean of modern community organizing" (Boyte 1983, 34), has not been examined. The following argument establishes that relationship.