The Cuban Revolution

Origins, Course, and Legacy

Third Edition

Marifeli Perez-Stable

This timely and provocative study provides a reexamination of the Cuban revolution and places it firmly in a historical context. Beginning with the inauguration of the republic in 1902 and addressing Castro's triumphant entry into Santiago de Cuba in 1959, The Cuban Revolution highlights the factors that made Cuba susceptible to revolution, including its one-crop (sugar) economy and U.S. interference in Cuban affairs. While identifying radical nationalism--the defense of national sovereignty and social justice--as a legitimate factor behind the revolution, author Marifeli Pérez-Stable also provides insight into the problems facing Castro's Cuba. Arguing that the revolution actually ended in 1970, she blames its defeat on the regime's profitable yet doomed dependence on the Soviet Union. She further charges that Cuba's leaders failed to diversify the economy, to sustain development, or to create democratic institutions. Ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in Latin American history and politics, The Cuban Revolution, Third Edition, offers students fresh insights into contemporary Cuba.

New to this Edition:

Revised coverage of radical nationalism that demonstrates how the actions of Cubans themselves-the elites, the popular sectors, and the middle classes-made the revolution possible.
A more central focus on the tensions between Fidel Castro's leadership, Cuban institutions, and economic policies.
New, largely unpublished research in Chapters 2 and 3.
A new concluding chapter, in which the author updates the transition from Fidel to Raúl Castro.

The Cuban Revolution

Origins, Course, and Legacy

Third Edition

Marifeli Perez-Stable

Description

This timely and provocative study provides a reexamination of the Cuban revolution and places it firmly in a historical context. Beginning with the inauguration of the republic in 1902 and addressing Castro's triumphant entry into Santiago de Cuba in 1959, The Cuban Revolution highlights the factors that made Cuba susceptible to revolution, including its one-crop (sugar) economy and U.S. interference in Cuban affairs. While identifying radical nationalism--the defense of national sovereignty and social justice--as a legitimate factor behind the revolution, author Marifeli Pérez-Stable also provides insight into the problems facing Castro's Cuba. Arguing that the revolution actually ended in 1970, she blames its defeat on the regime's profitable yet doomed dependence on the Soviet Union. She further charges that Cuba's leaders failed to diversify the economy, to sustain development, or to create democratic institutions. Ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in Latin American history and politics, The Cuban Revolution, Third Edition, offers students fresh insights into contemporary Cuba.

New to this Edition

* Revised coverage of radical nationalism that demonstrates how the actions of Cubans themselves-the elites, the popular sectors, and the middle classes-made the revolution possible
* A more central focus on the tensions between Fidel Castro's leadership, Cuban institutions, and economic policies
* New, largely unpublished research in Chapters 2 and 3
* A new concluding chapter, in which the author updates the transition from Fidel to Raúl Castro

Previous publication dates

December 1998, December 1993

The Cuban Revolution

Origins, Course, and Legacy

Third Edition

Marifeli Perez-Stable

Tables
Preface
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the First Edition
Acronyms

1. Mediated Sovereignty, Monoculture, and Development
Classic Dependence in Crisis
Reformism in the Making, 1927-1958
State and Society
Standards of Living
Women in Prerevolutionary Cuba
The Cuba That Might Have Been

2. The First Republic
Politics at the Dawn of Independence
The War of 1895 Comes to an End
The Civic March (April 20-May 11, 1902)
Critical Junctures in the First Republic
The 1905-1906 Reelection Crisis
Mario García Menocal's Counterfeit Reelection in 1916
Gerardo Machado's Election in 1924 and the Cooperativismo of 1928
A Mobilized Society
The Revolution of 1933

3. The Second Republic
Constitutional Democracy, 1940-1952
The Coup of March 10, 1952 and the Mainstream Opposition
The November 1, 1954 Elections and Their Aftermath
The Batistato and Cuban Society
The Working Class
The Opposition
Cuban Society: A House of Cards
The Malestar Difuso as Breeding Ground for Radicalism

4. Revolution and Radical Nationalism, 1959-1961
Reformism, the Clases Económicas, and the Revolution
The Working Class and the Revolutionary Government
Revolutionary Politics and the Clases Populares

5. Politics and Society, 1961-1970 202
The Incipient Institutional Order, 1961-1965
The Formation of a Vanguard Party
Unions, Workers, and Conciencia
The Federation of Cuban Women
The United States, Cuba, and Cuban Exiles
The Origins of the Radical Experiment
The Parallel Construction of Communism and Socialism
The Withering Away of Trade Unions
The Politics of Mobilization
The 1970 Watershed

6. Politics and Society, 1971-1986
Revolution and Institutionalization
The Trade Unions as Mass Organizations
Workers and the Economy
Workers and Management
The Federation of Cuban Women and Gender Equality
Women and Work
The PCC as a Vanguard Party
Crossroads at Three Party Congresses

7. Rectification and Reconstitution, 1986-1998
The Process of Rectification
The Economics of Rectification
The Politics of Rectification
The Cuban Communist Party as the Cold War Ended
The CTC and the FMC in the Rectification Process
The Fourth Party Congress
Mobilizational Politics and the Cuban Economy
Political Trends of the Special Period
The Character of Cuban Elites
Reforming Popular Power Assemblies
The Role of the Military
The Dynamics of Popular Support, Quiescence, and Opposition

8. Mobilizational Politics Redux and Raúl Castro's Cuba
Cuba and the World
The United States
The Bush Administration
The Obama Administration
The International Community
Cuba Isn't Isolated
Mobilizational Politics Redux
The Comandante Steps Aside
Raúl Castro's Cuba
Politics as Usual?
Economic Reforms
The Sixth Party Congress

Notes
Index

The Cuban Revolution

Origins, Course, and Legacy

Third Edition

Marifeli Perez-Stable

Author Information

Marifeli Pérez-Stable is Professor of Sociology at Florida International University.

The Cuban Revolution

Origins, Course, and Legacy

Third Edition

Marifeli Perez-Stable

Reviews and Awards

"This is by far the best work I have read on contemporary Cuba. It is a competent study that strives for--and achieves--remarkable impartiality. The Cuban Revolution conveys the probing intelligence and profound thoughtfulness that produces permanence. It is a work not just for a single season but for a very long time."--Franklin W. Knight, The John Hopkins University

"What we have in The Cuban Revolution is the most complete, sustained intellectual effort to do with the Cuban revolution what dozens of authors have done for the Mexican revolution-to indicate the native roots of the rebellion and, most importantly, to demonstrate how these roots were of primordial significance in determining the evolution of the revolution over the course of nearly half a century."--Lars Schoultz, University of North Carolina