Portrait of Jane Jacobs
Left · Thinker or writer · From history

Jane Jacobs

American-Canadian urbanist, 1916 to 2006

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Wrote The Death and Life of Great American Cities, defending lively neighborhoods against top-down urban renewal and highways.

Jane Jacobs sits in the left-libertarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: slightly state-led and strongly libertarian. The clearest positions are strongly libertarian on liberty and authority, leaning anti-establishment on institutions and leaning nature-first on environment.

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Where Jane Jacobs sits on ten dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this person's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomySlightly state-led
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityStrongly libertarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureSlightly traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationSlightly globalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentLeaning nature-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyLeaning tech-cautious
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceLeaning peace-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsLeaning anti-establishment
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionSlightly secular
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismLeaning non-interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

People most like Jane Jacobs

Jaron Lanier American computer scientist and tech critic99%Hannah Arendt German-American political theorist, 1906 to 197598%Bruce Springsteen American singer-songwriter97%George Orwell English writer, 1903 to 195096%Paulo Freire Brazilian educator, 1921 to 199796%Eduardo Galeano Uruguayan writer, 1940 to 201596%Shoshana Zuboff American scholar and author96%Albert Camus French-Algerian writer, 1913 to 196096%

People furthest from Jane Jacobs

Louis XIV King of France, 1643 to 171511%Joseph Stalin Soviet leader, 1920s to 195314%Benito Mussolini Prime Minister of Italy, 1922 to 194314%Vladimir Putin President of Russia, 2000 to present (with a term as prime minister)15%

Political views closest to Jane Jacobs

LocalismPushes power and decisions down to the smallest workable community.98%MutualismA market-based anarchism in which workers and small producers trade fairly through…97%CooperativismPrefers businesses owned and run by workers, consumers or local communities.97%Neo-LuddismResists industrial and digital technology that is seen to erode community, work and…95%

Read more about Jane Jacobs

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Biographies of Jane JacobsBooks on localism

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Percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions. Including a person here is for study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: Phil Stanziola, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.