Analysis of economic and social development trends in Cuba and the impact of the socialist revolution on economic growth, employment, consumption, income distribution and socio-economic conditions - examines the historical background, production indexes, economic indicators and estimates of gross domestic product, 1946-1981; studies dependence, structural change, basic needs, labour force and unemployment; includes statistical tables on foreign investment, industrial production, wages, growth rate, etc. Graphs.

Monograph comprising an evaluation of economic growth, basic needs satisfaction and income distribution after the 1959 revolution in Cuba - discusses historical trends, growth rate measurement problems, economic structure changes, trade, industrial production, agricultural production, successes in reducing unemployment, poverty and regional disparities, etc. Bibliography pp. 212 to 232, graphs, map, references and statistical tables.

The book argues that the Cuban Revolution warrants a closer look as a model of socialist human development. A re-reading of the Cuban Revolution from this angle engages unresolved issues in the theory of socialist humanism and the notion of human development popularized by the United Nations Development Programme (i.e., predicated on capitalism). UNDP economists and other agencies of international cooperation for development give a human face to a capitalist development process that is anything but humane. Socialism in Cuba has taken a very different form (socialist human development) than it did elsewhere in the twentieth century. The Cuban Revolution's unique characteristics enabled it to survive adverse conditions - a 'near-perfect storm' - that still threaten its evolution.

Revolutionary Cuba today faces challenges and perils greater than at any time since the defeat of the US-backed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion in 1961. The Soviet Union, Cuba's main ally, is both weakened and divided, the Sandinistas are now in opposition, and remaining Communist governments are everywhere in crisis. These developments have combined with Cuba's domestic problems to place the revolution under threat. In this thorough but critical study, Janette Habel shows that, despite great achievements in public health and education, a malaise has developed in Cuban society. Detailing the arbitrary limits set upon popular participation and the absence of a properly functioning socialist democracy, she reveals a dangerous ossification of Cuba's once innovative and radical order, and a growing alienation of youth. This scrupulous account of the perils facing the Cuban revolution never forgets the appalling external pressures under which this small state labours. But it insists that only a bold new policy of revolutionary democracy offers the prospect of conserving--and building upon--the gains of the revolution.

This work addresses the whole spectrum of analyses of the Cuban experience and covers the entire period from the Revolutionary victory of 1959 to the present day. It attempts to anticipate future development of Cuban society.