This volume analyzes Cuban socioeconomic policies and evaluates their performance since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist camp. It provides a brief historical background to the crisis and analyzes in detail the deterioration and incomplete recovery since 1990. Comparing Cuba's performance with that of other Latin American and former socialist countries, it summarizes the views of noted Cuban economists and proposes policies that architects of the Cuban transition might wish to put in place after the passing of Castro.Focusing on economic and social policies and performance during the “Special Period in Time of Peace” (1990-2004), the authors draw on an impressive array of statistics (synthesized in 28 tables) to show that in 2005 Cuba has yet to return to economic levels of the late 1980s, and the access and quality of many of the highly touted social services--education, health care, social security, housing--also have not been restored to the levels achieved prior to the economic crisis triggered by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, they argue, poverty has expanded and unequal access to foreign remittances combined with expanding income differences have exacerbated social inequalities and widened the consumption gap between those with access to hard currency and those without.The authors demonstrate that governmental concerns about a strengthening private sector resulting in loss of political control finally prompted the Cuban leadership to prioritize political over economic ends. It aborted the modest market-oriented reforms of 1993-1996 and actually reversed them in 2003-2004, recentralized the economy, drastically reduced the limited spaces for private economic activity, exerted increasing control over hard currency, prohibited the circulation of the dollar, and stepped up repressive measures on peaceful dissidents. Centralized economic control has been fully restored, even though it will undoubtedly result in further deterioration of economic conditions and declining standards of living.

This book offers an economic history of the Cuban revolution between 1959 and 2019, with a focus on the period that ranges between 2008 and 2018. It aims to explain in a historical perspective the Cuban economic challenges through the category of ‘peripheral socialism’. The core of the research is the administration of Raúl Castro and the economic and social reforms introduced by it under the concept of socialism update. The book describes Cuba’s recent economic policies and analyses the structure and dynamics of Cuba’s economic changes, offering a panoramic view which can serve as an introduction to further more detailed analyses. The book also offers an interpretation of Cuba’s socialism in light of the Latin American political economy of underdevelopment, so as to interpret Cuba’s structural economic performance. The analytical background will enable readers to understand the contemporary crises in Cuba, with a balanced look at the triumphs and limits of its peripheral socialism. It will find an audience among scholars and researchers of economic development and history, macroeconomics, Latin American and Cuban Studies, Socialism Studies, and related areas. It will also be of interest to economists, politicians, diplomats, journalists, and NGOs.

"This book brings together experts from across three disciplines--politics, economics, and law--to address the key issues that affect Cuba-U.S. bilateral relations today. The chapters identify the opportunities and challenges presented to both nations in each of their respective disciplines while staking out what the future may hold"--

Cuban Studies 41 includes essays on: the ideology behind United States foreign policy toward Cuba; a gendered study of Cubans who migrate to other countries; fifty years of Cuban medical diplomacy; the fifty-year relationship between Havana and Moscow, national cultural policy and the visual arts in the aftermath of the “Grey Years,” and a look at the global influence of Havana cigars.

Spanning the history of the island from pre-Columbian times to the present, this highly acclaimed survey examines Cuba's political and economic development within the context of its international relations and continuing struggle for self-determination. The dualism that emerged in Cuban ideology--between liberal constructs of patria and radical formulations of nationality--is fully investigated as a source of both national tension and competing notions of liberty, equality, and justice. Author Louis A. Pérez, Jr., integrates local and provincial developments with issues of class, race, and gender to give students a full and fascinating account of Cuba's history, focusing on its struggle for nationality.

Die tiefe Wirtschaftskrise in Folge der Corona-Pandemie stellt Kubas Sozialismus vor eine ungeahnte Belastungsprobe. Die Regierung in Havanna hat eine grundlegende Reform von Wirtschaft, Institutionengefüge und Sozialsystem auf die Agenda gesetzt. Der Band vereint Beiträge führender internationaler Experten und von der Insel selbst, die aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven die Herausforderungen analysieren, vor denen Kuba heute steht.

“Frequent insights, stimulating historical comparisons, and command of the data relating to Cuba’s economic and social performance.” —Foreign Affairs Uncritically lauded by the left and impulsively denounced by the right, the Cuban Revolution is almost universally viewed one dimensionally. In this book, Samuel Farber, one of its most informed left-wing critics, provides a much-needed critical assessment of the Revolution’s impact and legacy. “The Cuban story twists and turns as we speak, so thank goodness for scholars such as Samuel Farber, an unapologetic Marxist whose knowledge of Cuban affairs is unrivalled . . . In this excellent, necessary book, Farber takes stock of fifty years of revolutionary control by recognizing achievements but lambasting authoritarianism.” —Latin American Review of Books “A courageous and formidable balance-sheet of the Cuban Revolution, including a sobering analysis of a draconian ‘reform’ program that will only deepen the gulf between revolutionary slogans and the actual life of the people.” —Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums