Neoliberalism, the Special Period and Solidarity in Cuba

Powell, Kathy

doi:10.1177/0308275x08090545

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…At the inception of Cuba's food rationing system, Fidel Castro noted that a supply and demand price policy “would have been nothing short of ruthless sacrifice on the part of the poor population with the lowest income,” and according to Benjamin et al, “such a policy was accepted for luxury and nonessential goods but never for the necessities” (1984:15). Because of the collapse of the Soviet Union, beginning in the late 1980s Cuba suffered a period of economic hardship known as the “Special Period in Time of Peace” (Alvarez 2004; Powell 2008). During this period Cubans barely maintained access to basic foods and luxury and nonessential goods were nearly impossible to find.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

THINGS BECAME SCARCE: FOOD AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY IN SANTIAGO de CUBA THEN AND NOW

Garth

2009

NAPA Bulletin

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Cuba has had a nationalized food rationing system since 1962, and has been lauded for exemplary food security innovations in the face of national financial hardship. Decreases in food and agricultural related importations after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 limited the amount of food provided in the monthly rations, forcing individuals to acquire increasing amounts of their food through other means. This article reveals the complexities Cubans face when attempting to access foods in Santiago de Cuba. This project examines how Cubans experience their food system, their struggles to maintain food traditions despite the low availability of ingredients, and how people use and relate to Cuba's food provisioning system. In this article two memories of past periods of abundance are juxtaposed to show the different ways in which individuals interpret food security. The analysis of semistructured interviews, community mapping, and participant‐observation reveal the ways in which residents of Santiago de Cuba orient to their present situation through memories of past periods when foods were more available and more easily accessible.

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confidence: 99%

THINGS BECAME SCARCE: FOOD AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY IN SANTIAGO de CUBA THEN AND NOW

Garth

2009

NAPA Bulletin

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“…9 The euphemistically dubbed Período Especial or "Special Period" refers to the period of economic hardship experienced by Cuba after the dissolution of its main economic ally, the Soviet Union, in 1991. Throughout the 1990s, Cubans struggled to obtain material goods and food, and the period is still regularly cited by Cubans as a time when the rules of moral and social order changed, and questions of sobreviver (survival) and luchar (struggle) became paramount (Hernández-Reguant 2009;Powell 2008;Rosendahl 2001). 10 Consider also the Cuban pun on "socio-lismo" and "socialismo"-that is, a dependence on sócios or friends to survive socialism.…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Mula Ring”: Material Networks of Circulation Through the Cuban World

Cearns

2019

J Latin Amer Carib Anth

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Resumen Este artículo está basado en quince meses de trabajo de campo etnográfico en Cuba, los EE. UU., México, Panamá y Guyana para describir una red transnacional emergente de circulación de materiales que llamo el “circuito mula.” Muestro cómo los cubanos movilizan vastas redes transnacionales para realizar sus sistemas de circulación de materiales en la actualidad. Estas redes equivalen a una economía en sí misma que está redefiniendo lo que significa ser cubano dentro y fuera de la isla. Muestro cómo esta economía informal se basa en esferas de circulación e intercambio de género preexistentes, así como en nuevas modalidades de poder, cuyos efectos se pueden sentir lejos de la propia isla. De hecho, esta red, que surge de una escasez material histórica desde el socialismo, está conduciendo a la reificación de nuevas estructuras de clase, que la Revolución se había propuesto inicialmente desmantelar.

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“…Another example could be Cuba, which has maintained a powerful state, while at the same time maintaining a certain exilic-incorporative relationship to the world-system (Eckstein 1982). There are definitive mutual aid interactions among the population, as well as substantive reproduction of the economy outside formal market decisions (Powell 2008). These occur at the same time there still exist class differentiations and a non-democratic political structure.…”

Section: Exilic Factions During Exile-in-rupturementioning

confidence: 99%

Lessons from exits foreclosed: An exilic interpretation of the Mexican and Russian Revolutions, 1910–1924

2018

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We apply a typology of exile to factions involved in the Mexican and Russian Revolutions of the early 20th century. Our typology is based on Grubačić and O’Hearn’s theory of exile, which seeks to explain how alternative social institutions based on mutual aid, substantive reproduction, and egalitarian, direct democracy come into being and sustain themselves. We argue for exile as a determinant of revolutionary outcomes and the state (de)formation process and that we must understand exile-in-rupture as a moment when structures are at maximal flux due to the existence of exilic factions. By doing so, we offer a novel approach to understanding revolutions and state (de)formation based upon the alliances between exilic and incorporative factions. Through descriptions of loyalty bargains made, maintained, and broken during the Mexican and Russian Revolutions, we demonstrate how factions representing autonomy and exit are excluded from the resulting political-economic order post-Revolution, while their energy and power are leveraged during revolution itself. Based on this, we argue that exile is a key component of radical strategy, but that it is often precariously based on loyalty bargains that underpin it. Due to exile’s precarity, revolutions are foreclosed by reincorporation into the capitalist world-system as states are (re)formed by incorporative factions. Therefore, exile is both a necessary and contingent component of revolution and state (de)formation.

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Neoliberalism, the Special Period and Solidarity in Cuba

Cited by 16 publications

References 16 publications

THINGS BECAME SCARCE: FOOD AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY IN SANTIAGO de CUBA THEN AND NOW

THINGS BECAME SCARCE: FOOD AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY IN SANTIAGO de CUBA THEN AND NOW

The “Mula Ring”: Material Networks of Circulation Through the Cuban World

Lessons from exits foreclosed: An exilic interpretation of the Mexican and Russian Revolutions, 1910–1924

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