Capitalism, God, and a good cigar : Cuba enters the twenty-first century

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Capitalism, God, and a good cigar : Cuba enters the twenty-first century

edited by Lydia Chávez ; with photographs by Mimi Chakarova

Duke University Press, 2005

  • : pbk

Available at  / 5 libraries

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Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

When the Soviet Union dissolved, so did the easy credit, cheap oil, and subsidies it had provided to Cuba. The bottom fell out of the Cuban economy, and many expected that Castro's revolution-the one that had inspired the Left throughout Latin America and elsewhere-would soon be gone as well. More than a decade later, the revolution lives on, albeit in a modified form. Following the collapse of Soviet communism, Castro legalized the dollar, opened the island to tourism, and allowed foreign investment, small-scale private enterprise, and remittances from exiles in Miami. Capitalism, God, and a Good Cigar describes what the changes implemented since the early 1990s have meant for ordinary Cubans: hotel workers, teachers, priests, factory workers, rap artists, writers, homemakers, and others.Based on reporting by journalists, writers, and documentary filmmakers since 2001, each of the essays collected here covers a particular dimension of contemporary Cuban society, revealing what it is like to have lived, for more than a decade, suspended between communism and capitalism. There are pieces on hip hop musicians, fiction writing and censorship, the state of ballet and the performing arts, and the role of computers and the Internet. Other essays address the shrinking yet still sizeable numbers of true believers in the promise of socialist revolution, the legendary cigar industry, the changing state of religion, the significance of the recent influx of money and people from Spain, and the tensions between recent Cuban emigrants and previous generations of exiles. Including more than seventy striking documentary photographs of Cuba's people, countryside, and city streets, this richly illustrated collection offers keen, even-handed insights into the abundant ironies of life in Cuba today. Contributors. Juliana Barbassa, Ana Campoy, Mimi Chakarova, Lydia Chavez, John Cote, Julian Foley, Angel Gonzalez, Megan Lardner, Ezequiel Minaya, Daniela Mohor, Archana Pyati, Alicia Roca, Olga R. Rodriguez, Bret Sigler, Annelise Wunderlich

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix Adrift: An Introduction to Contemporary Cuba / Lydia Chavez 1 Part I: Inventing The New Cuban Capitalist / Juliana Barbassa 17 The Old Cuban Cadre: Four Women Survive Manzanillo / Alicia Roca 31 Trinidad: Life on the Margins / Julian Foley 45 Part 2: Breathing Hip Hop Pushes the Limits / Annelise Wunderlich 65 Authors Who Knew or Know the Limits / Ezequiel Minaya 78 Dancers Who Stretch the Limits / Ana Campoy 95 Interlude: A Photo Essay / Mimi Chakarova 110 Part 3: Surviving True Believers / Olga R. Rodriguez 131 Socialism and the Cigar / Daniela Mohor 147 Cubans Log On behind Castro's Back / John Cote 160 Part 4: Searching The New Immigrants Don't Hate Fidel / Archana Pyati 177 The Spanish Are Back / Megan Lardner 191 God, Babalawos, and Castro / Bret Sigler 207 Son de Camaguey / Angel Gonzalez 222 Suggested Reading 235 Contributors 241 Index 243

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