UH Hilo sociologist Lindy Hern gives lecture series in Missouri, focuses on health care reform
Associate Professor of Sociology Lindy Hern describes herself as a scholar-activist primarily through her work for progressive health care reform, notably focusing on the Medicare for All movement.
By Susan Enright.
Sociologist Lindy Hern, currently on sabbatical, has just finished a whirlwind lecture series of invited talks across the state of Missouri: Kansas City, Columbia, St. Louis, and Fayette.
Hern, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, bases her talks on the framework developed in her book, Single Payer Healthcare Reform: Grassroots Mobilization and the Turn Against Establishment Politics in the Medicare for All Movement (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020).
“I had several research and book talks canceled due to the pandemic so it was great to finally have the opportunity to travel and talk more about my research during my first and much delayed sabbatical,” says Hern.
In the book, Hern, who describes herself as scholar-activist primarily through her work for progressive health care reform, approaches her topic in three main ways. She provides a comprehensive history of the grassroots movement for health care reform in the United States from within the single-payer movement. She discusses the role that narrative or “constructions of opportunity” plays in grassroots mobilization, which builds on existing social movement theory. And she examines the turn against “politics as usual” and establishment politicians that began in progressive social movements long before the last two presidential election cycles.
Each of her presentations in Missouri, delivered last month, provided data and material Hern has analyzed in the years post publication of the book, with a focus on the impact of the COVID pandemic, which had just started when the book came out. Hern, for example, notes that millions of Americans lost their health insurance during the global health crisis. “This loss of health insurance isn’t happening in other similar countries that have some form of universal health care that is not tied to specific employment,” she says.
Hern’s presentation hosted Feb. 14 by the group Community of Compassion, Kansas City, focused on the Medicare for All movement. The talk was attended by other community organizations as well, including Move On and Physicians for a National Health Program.
On Feb. 21, Hern gave a talk at her alma mater, Central Methodist University in Fayette, focusing on the American Health Crisis and possible solutions and movement forward before, during, and after the COIVD-19 pandemic period.
“I really enjoyed having the opportunity to speak with two groups of students at Central Methodist University, where I completed my B.A. in sociology and French,” says Hern in an email. “Both groups greeted me with a warm ‘Aloha!’ and had interesting follow-up questions to my presentation in which I focused on the three ways universal healthcare systems exist around the world: multi-payer, single-payer, and socialized medicine.”
- To learn more, listen to In Good Society’s podcast with Hern as guest: Universal Healthcare 101.
- Also, an audio interview at New Books Network: Lindy S. F. Hern, Single Payer Healthcare Reform.
At a public library in St. Louis on Feb. 22, Hern discussed a few of the lessons she has learned through her two decades of work within the Medicare for All movement at the national and state levels, and how these lessons can be applied in Missouri and beyond. The talk was sponsored by Missourians for Single Payer and cosponsored by Physicians for a National Health Program, Veterans for Peace, and the Green Party (Missouri Chapters). Representatives from each of these organizations attended.
One of Hern’s talks was given at another alma mater, University of Missouri, Columbia, where she earned her doctorate. At that Feb. 23 presentation, Hern discussed how state and institutional policies during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted grass-roots mobilization efforts within the Medicare for All movement.
“There was a surprisingly good turn out for a Friday afternoon with faculty, grad students, and undergrad students filling the room and an additional 13 people attending via Zoom, from all around the country,” Hern says.
“It was great to return to Mizzou and share my work with them,” Hern adds. “I focused on unpacking how the pandemic impacted social movement activities at the grassroots levels. For example, stay at home and social distancing requirements limited face to face activism so organizations had to further develop their online and virtual activities, which initially had a positive effect on participation.”
“This is what I’m writing about during my sabbatical so it was energizing to have the opportunity to discuss this with other academics. including some of my mentors from graduate school, as well as activists.”
Story by Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
