Cuba: A Revolution in Motion

by Isaac Saney

Overview

This accessible, up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to modern Cuba provides an overview of Cuban history with particular emphasis on the country's post-Soviet economic collapse, the measures that President Castro's government took in response, and their ensuing results and impact.

This book neither paints Cuba as a perfect society nor universal model for Third World development. But it does argue that Cuba demonstrates that even relatively small countries can pursue a path of economic and social development that avoids the problems endemic in the rest of Latin America. The author also argues that the country's political stability is not merely the result of authoritarianism, but that important elements of democracy involve participation and help generate public support.

Cuba today continues to have huge problems, but the wider significance of the Cuban Revolution rests on its practical demonstration that it is possible to pursue radical and humane development policies which are at complete variance with the increasingly criticised nostrums of neoliberal economics being foisted on the rest of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781842773635
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/01/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	711,903
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.57(d)

About the Author

Professsor Isaac Saney is Associate Director of the Transition Year Program at Henson College, Dalhousie University. His scholarly work is in the fields of international development studies, political economy and law. A frequent visitor to Cuba, he is the author of a monograph on Cuba published by the International Development Studies Program, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Canada, as well as many articles on Cuba, Black history and race.
Professsor Isaac Saney is Associate Director of the Transition Year Program at Henson College, Dalhousie University. His scholarly work is in the fields of international development studies, political economy and law. A frequent visitor to Cuba, he is the author of a monograph on Cuba published by the International Development Studies Program, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Canada, as well as many articles on Cuba, Black history and race.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements	vii
	Introduction	1
1.	From Columbus to Revolution	7
	Revolutionary Enthusiasm	11
	Objective Constraints	18
	The Economic Crash	21
	The Economic Measures of the special period	25
	The Economic Recovery	29
	The Social Sphere	35
	The Aftermath of September 11th	39
2.	Governance in Cuba	41
	The Dominant Model of Democracy	41
	Critique of the Dominant Model	43
	The Historical and Philosophical Context of Governance in Cuba	46
	The Workers' Parliaments	51
	Poder Popular	53
	The National Assembly Elections of 1993, 1998 and 2003	58
	Workers and the Union Movement	60
	The Communist Party of Cuba	64
	Mass Organizations and Civil Society	65
	The Generational Shift	67
	Government Opponents	68
	The Varela Project	84
	Conclusion	87
3.	Race, Inequality and Revolution	90
	Inequality in the Global Context	91
	Women in the Revolution	94
	Afro-Cubans before the Revolution	96
	Afro-Cubans and the Revolution	100
	Afro-Cubans and the Special Period	108
	Conclusion	117
4.	Crime and Criminal Justice	122
	Historical Background	123
	The Court and Legal Structure	125
	Philosophical and Ideological Basis of the Legal System	126
	Development of the Penal Code	129
	The State of Dangerousness Provisions	131
	Cuban Criminal Procedure: Rights of the Accused	133
	The Right to Counsel	134
	The Right to Silence and Confessions	136
	Search and Seizure	138
	Trial and Sentencing	139
	The Death Penalty	140
	Imprisonment	144
	The 1999 Modifications to the Cuban Penal Code	147
	Conclusion	150
5.	The United States and Cuba	151
	The Prelude to the Cuban Revolution	152
	The Revolution	158
	The Undeclared War	162
	Economic Strangulation	166
	Emigration	171
	Conclusion	174
6.	Lessons and Footprints	176
	Foreign Investment	179
	The Environment	184
	Internationalism	186
	Socialism on One Island	195
	Conclusion	202
	Bibliography	205
	Index	230

Editorial Reviews

"I lamented this book had not come out in time to be THE required text for my Special Topics in Cuban Culture and Society course. This book is not just one of the best introductions to a much contested subject, but also one of the most thoughtful discussions; very political in the true sense of the word. I had been hoping for something like that to be available. I recommend it to everyone, particularly students with an individual interest in Cuba." --Claudia Kaiser-Lenoir, Tufts University

"Saney's book is a comprehensive and balanced primer on Cuba and the progress its Revolution has brought the Cuban people. It is highly readable for anyone interested in understanding that nation's ongoing struggle for social justice. In particular, his discussion of inequality and race is the best available in the literature." --Cliff Durand, Morgan State University

"Saney provides a most impressive sweep over the dynamics of survival and change in the Cuban revolution over the last decade. As a highly informative and insightful look into the Cuban Revolution today there is no book like it. It is a must read not only for Cubanologists but anyone interested in understanding not only how the Revolution has managed to survive decades of US imperialism and the most severe crisis in its history but the fact that it continues to work--and serve as an example, if not model, of a systematic alternative to world capitalism. Well researched and very well written." --Henry Veltmeyer, Saint Mary's University

"Almost forty-five years have passed since the Cuban Revolution. Has it been successful? Has it failed? Have racism and sexism been eradicated? Is there criminal justice? These are only some of the issues that Saney tackles in this easy-to-read yet profound book in which he offers a rare insight into how Cuba, a small and underdeveloped island nation, has been able to respond positively to the social needs of its population." --Susan Hurlich, a journalist and anthropologist

From the Publisher