Transformation and Struggle - by Sandor Halebsky & John M Kirk (Hardcover)

About the Book

This is the second of two volumes to bear witness to the Cuban experience. Together with its predecessor, Cuba: Twenty-Five Years of Revolution, it offers a positive account. Yet, it is sensitive to the dilemmas and flawed strategies in Cuba's thirty-year process of transformation. It warns that no preconceived notion of state or of development will help grasp the multifaceted nature of this nation, which reflects aspects of both developed and underdeveloped nations. Seventeen chapters, five of which are from Cuban contributors, thoroughly investigate recent political, economic, and social changes as well as the successes and failures of long-term development policies. Heavy attention is paid to the rectification process launched by Castro in 1986.

This volume portrays a Cuba facing the 1990s with a burst of increased vigor in its efforts to secure continued far-reaching transformation. Seventeen chapters describe major changes in the economic realm caught up in the rectification campaign; a slow process of liberalization in the political sphere; and a Cuba that, in social terms, is far better off than any other Latin American country.

Book Synopsis

This is the second of two volumes to bear witness to the Cuban experience. Together with its predecessor, Cuba: Twenty-Five Years of Revolution, it offers a positive account. Yet, it is sensitive to the dilemmas and flawed strategies in Cuba's thirty-year process of transformation. It warns that no preconceived notion of state or of development will help grasp the multifaceted nature of this nation, which reflects aspects of both developed and underdeveloped nations. Seventeen chapters, five of which are from Cuban contributors, thoroughly investigate recent political, economic, and social changes as well as the successes and failures of long-term development policies. Heavy attention is paid to the rectification process launched by Castro in 1986.

This volume portrays a Cuba facing the 1990s with a burst of increased vigor in its efforts to secure continued far-reaching transformation. Seventeen chapters describe major changes in the economic realm caught up in the rectification campaign; a slow process of liberalization in the political sphere; and a Cuba that, in social terms, is far better off than any other Latin American country.

Review Quotes

?The efforts of 30 years of transformation in the face of continued hostility from the American government show mixed results in Cuba. The chapters examine change in all aspects of life: politcal, economic, legal, the family, and religion.?-Booknotes

"The efforts of 30 years of transformation in the face of continued hostility from the American government show mixed results in Cuba. The chapters examine change in all aspects of life: politcal, economic, legal, the family, and religion."-Booknotes

About the Author

SANDOR HALEBSKY is Professor of Sociology at St. Mary's University and is co-editor of Cuba: Twenty Five Years of Revolution.

JOHN M. KIRK is Professor of Spanish at Dalhousie University and is co-editor of Cuba: Twenty Five Years of Revolution.