Table Of ContentFair Share
Fair Share
Senior Activism, Tiny Publics,
and the Culture of Resistance
Gary Alan Fine
Th e University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
Th e University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
Th e University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2023 by Th e University of Chicago
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in
critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the University of Chicago
Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
Published 2023
Printed in the United States of America
32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 82381- 2 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 82383- 6 (paper)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 82382- 9 (e- book)
DOI: https:// doi .org/ ./ chicago/ . .
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Fine, Gary Alan, author.
Title: Fair share : senior activism, tiny publics, and the culture of resistance /
Gary Alan Fine.
Other titles: Senior activism, tiny publics, and the culture of resistance
Description: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2023. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2022017563 | ISBN 9780226823812 (cloth) | ISBN 9780226823836
(paperback) | ISBN 9780226823829 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Older people—Political activity—Illinois—Chicago. | Senior
power—Illinois—Chicago. | Political activists—Illinois—Chicago. | Community
organization—Illinois—Chicago. | Social movements—Illinois—Chicago.|
Progressivism (United States politics) | Chicago (Ill.)—Politics and government. |
United States—Politics and government—2017–2021.
Classifi cation: LCC HQ1064.U6 I324 2023 | DDC 305.2609773/11—dc23/eng/20220425
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022017563
Th is paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
To my late friends, above or below, who demand that angels provide all
a fair share and demons confront infernal warming
Contents
Prologue: A Snowy Day in Racine 1
Introduction: Of Seniors, for Seniors 7
1 Causes, Commitment, and Culture 26
2 Coming of Age 55
3 Where the Actions Are 79
4 Movement Memories and Eventful Experience 104
5 Staff Power and Senior Authority 129
6 Diversities 158
7 Th e Nexus of Politics 182
8 Our Fair Share 203
Acknowledgments 213
Notes 215
Index 235
Prologue
A Snowy Day in Racine
What a diff erence a day makes! With the inauguration of Donald J. Trump
as the forty-fi ft h president of the United States on January 20, 2017, aft er a
bitter campaign, a surprising election night, and for some a dismaying out-
come, progressive political activists were galvanized into action. Th e day aft er
his swearing in, as many as fi ve million Americans participated in women’s
marches in cities throughout the United States, one of the largest single- day
protests in American history. Some 250,000 protesters gathered in Chicago’s
Grant Park.
As the winter progressed, protests were held weekly in Chicago on what
were termed Resist Trump Tuesdays (known more pungently as FU Trump
Tuesdays). Although the energy began strong, it waned and demonstrations
were less well attended, eventually ending in April. Oft en the spirit was will-
ing but the fl esh was weak. Still, it was remarkable that these gatherings con-
tinued through a frigid Chicago winter. Living in a windy, icy city can be a
struggle for anyone, but it is especially hard for seniors with mobility chal-
lenges. Although seniors may be marginalized in social movements and in
civic life generally because of their vulnerability and because of dismissive
beliefs toward the elderly, they provide powerful images of the necessity for
social justice. Th eir vulnerability becomes a symbolic resource that gives a
movement moral authority, and their numbers give the movement strength.
I depict the movement culture and political activism of senior citizens
through an account of one yeasty group: a tiny public. I begin by describing
a demonstration held during that fi rst season of the nascent Trump admin-
istration. Despite the weather— or because of it— the event became a central
focus of the group’s collective memory and both refl ected the way activists
produce a public performance and revealed its limits.
2 Prologue
In Chicago, a coalition of progressive groups organized these Resist
Trump Tuesdays, rotating responsibility for planning weekly events, each
with a diff erent theme. I attended several protests, including one fronted
by the group I call Chicago Seniors Together, my ethnographic site. On this
Tuesday in March, the organization decided to send busloads of seniors and
other supporters to the Racine, Wisconsin, offi ce of Congressman Paul Ryan,
the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, to protest feared
cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Th is was a matter of impassioned concern for many seniors, even if the
cuts were unlikely to be enacted. Th ese seniors suggested, perhaps with jus-
tice, that it was because of the energy of protesters that the Republican major-
ities preserved this sacred social compact. As Dina, one of the elderly protest-
ers, pointed out, “We brought the message that health care is a human right.”
Her friend Lisa remarked, “We’re going with the message that we want health
care for all.” She added, echoing the 1960s, the origin of her activist career,
“We’re going to take the streets” (fi eld notes). Today we hear this demand in
the calls among progressives for “Medicare for All.”
Th e organization hoped this demonstration would be a major gather-
ing bringing allies together, even if it was unlikely that the Speaker would
be present in his local constituency offi ce. Th ey were more hopeful that they
would receive favorable media attention. Counting members of the organi-
zation and allies from Chicago and southeastern Wisconsin, we numbered
approximately 125 souls, mostly older women. As the weather darkened,
these intrepid seniors and their staff organizers got their wish for drama. A
snowstorm moved into Racine County, and some seventeen inches, much of
it lake eff ect snow, fell on the small city, at times producing whiteout condi-
tions. (Approximately fi ve inches fell in Chicago during this same period.)
Although staff ers considered canceling the rally, they chose to proceed, while
fretting that few would brave the elements. Some seniors did cancel, but the
decision to go ahead was wise.
Perhaps because this was in the early glow of the Trump Resistance when
opposition to the new administration seemed thrilling, perhaps because it
was an adventure, or perhaps because Chicago was not blanketed so deep, the
two buses were fi lled with excited, chattering seniors.
We joked about the worsening weather as we drove north for seventy-
fi ve miles. Th e snow grew deeper and thicker and the winds got harsher. Th e
storm was routinely described as a blizzard, although this label was inaccu-
rate in strictly meteorological terms. Finally we arrived at the Olympia Brown
Unitarian Church in downtown Racine, two blocks from Congressman R yan’s
local offi ce, to discover that the chair lift on one of the buses didn’t work
