During his life, the work of Saul D. Alinsky may have been distorted by his confrontational style and outspoken manner. His lasting contribution lies in his understanding of community, organization, and power. Alinsky's intuitive grasp of the complex and multifaceted character of urban social structure, his masterful mobilization of community resources and strategies for building organizations, and his commitment to democratic pluralism and instrumental community action provide the framework for interpreting his actions. The United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) and the Organization of the North East (ONE) provide two case studies of contemporary community organizations that demonstrate the ongoing practical utility of Alinsky's orientation for community organization, as well as suggest the theoretical implications of his work for contemporary sociology. was one of the most widely known, colorful, and controversial community organizers of the twentieth century. His career spanned thirty years. He began his work in the late 1930s in Back of the Yards, a multi-ethnic, working class community in Chicago, received national attention in the mid-1960s with The Woodland Organization (TWO), one of the most publicized black community organizations in the nation, and at the time of his death was experimenting with a metropolitan coalition of neighborhood, labor, ecology, consumer, and citizen groups (Lancourt 1979). Saul AlinskyAlinsky is as important today as he was during the late 1960s but for different reasons. Most of Alinsky's public recognition during his life focused on his stories and adventures (feature-length biographical interviews appeared in Harper's [ 19651 and Playboy [ 19721) or on his social criticism and comments [he described the War on Poverty as "political pornography," (1965, p. 41) and stated that "Jerry [Rubin] and Abbie [Hoffman] couldn't organize a luncheon much less a revolution" (Rosenthal 1971, p. 31.1

Robert E. Park is widely recognized today for his contributions to urban sociology, race relations and collective behavior but his social psychology has been largely neglected. Park's inclusive and loose framework covered his interest in: (1) human nature and the bio‐physiological instincts which for him were raw materials of personality; (2) formulation of self concept as an organization of roles; and (3) micro‐macro linkages between individual and social structure. Each one of Park's three themes is still important for symbolic interaction theory and offers insights into contemporary investigations of emotions, role acquisition and identity.

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