Collective Action (Cuba)

Abstract

Movement scholars define collective action as the activities people in social movements do together to promote or resist social change. There are multiple types and levels of collective action, ranging from acts of everyday resistance, grassroots movements, and protests to high coordination and broad geographical and temporal scope in protest waves, revolutionary and transnational movements. This entry examines those instances of collective action throughout Cuban history, particularly after the 1959 government takeover. It argues that restrictions on democratic institutions and political freedoms, while limiting the existence of autonomous social movements, have not entirely suppressed civil society and collective action in Cuba.