The Cuban Revolution as Socialist Human Development

382 Pages·2013·3.143 MB·English

by  Henry Veltmeyer, Mark Rushton

The Cuban Revolution as Socialist
Human Development
Studies in Critical
Social Sciences
Series Editor
David Fasenfest
Wayne State University
Editorial Board
Chris Chase-Dunn, University of California-Riverside
G. William Domhoff, University of California-Santa Cruz
Colette Fagan, Manchester University
Matha Gimenez, University of Colorado, Boulder
Heidi Gottfried, Wayne State University
Karin Gottschall, University of Bremen
Bob Jessop, Lancaster University
Rhonda Levine, Colgate University
Jacqueline O’Reilly, University of Brighton
Mary Romero, Arizona State University
Chizuko Ueno, University of Tokyo
VOLUME 36
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/scss
The Cuban Revolution as Socialist
Human Development
By
Henry Veltmeyer
Mark Rushton
LEIDEN • BOSTON
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2012
Cover illustration: Agricultural field in the UBPC Vivero Organipónico Alamar cooperative,
Havana, Cuba. Photo taken on 5 December 2007 by Mark Rushton.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Veltmeyer, Henry.
The Cuban revolution as socialist human development / by Henry Veltmeyer, Mark Rushton.
p. cm. -- (Studies in critical social sciences, 1573-4234 ; v. 36)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-21043-1 (hbk. : alk. paper) 1. Socialism--Cuba. 2. Humanism--Cuba.
3. Cuba--Social policy. 4. Cuba--Economic policy. I. Rushton, Mark. II. Title.
HX158.5.V45 2012
303.44--dc23
2011035784
ISSN 1573-4234
ISBN 978 90 04 21043 1
Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
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Fees are subject to change.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments .....................................................................................ix
Acronyms....................................................................................................xi
List of Tables and Figures .......................................................................xiii
1 Introduction .............................................................................................1
PART I
THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMATIC
2 Human Development, Capitalism and Socialism in Theory ..........13
Human Development: Foundations of an Idea for
Progressive Change ..........................................................................14
Bringing in the State: From Socialism to Welfare
Capitalism .........................................................................................24
Development as Freedom: Human Development in
Theory ...............................................................................................29
Cuba’s Formulation of the Human Development Concept ............32
Capitalism, the Market and the Nation-State ...................................33
Human Development and Public Agency ........................................42
Conclusion ............................................................................................43
3 Human Development in Practice: Reform(ing Capitalism)
Versus (Socialist) Revolution ..............................................................45
Dynamics of Capitalist Development ................................................46
A Policy Framework for ‘Sustainable Human
Development’ ...................................................................................47
Policy Dynamics of Decentralisation and Popular
Participation .....................................................................................52
Cuba, Structural Adjustment and Globalization .............................57
Dynamics of Socialist Transition and Development .......................59
The Socialist Transition in Cuba ........................................................62
Conclusion ............................................................................................64
4 Socialism, Human Development and the Cuban Revolution ........67
Development Under the Washington Consensus ............................69
Beyond the Washington Consensus ..................................................69
vi contents
Socialist Human Development in Practice .......................................72
From the Capitalist Market to a Socialist State, 1959–1960 ...........75
Orthodox Central Planning, 1961–1963 ...........................................80
The Great Debate, 1963–1964.............................................................88
Che Guevara and Human Socialist Development, 1964–1969 ......92
Return to Orthodoxy in Human Development, 1970–1985 ..........99
The Rectification Campaign, 1986–1990 ........................................106
Conclusion ..........................................................................................114
PART II
DIMENSIONS OF SOCIALIST HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
5 Socialism as Revolutionary Consciousness: Dynamics
of a Revolution ...................................................................................119
Conceptual and Ethical Foundations of Socialist
Humanism ......................................................................................120
Marx on Capitalism and Human Development .............................121
The Human Development Debate ...................................................123
Socialist Human Development as Freedom ...................................125
Marx and Che on Capitalism, Communism and Human
Development ..................................................................................134
Socialist Human Development as Equality and Social
Justice ..............................................................................................139
Shaping of a Revolutionary Consciousness ....................................141
Education for Human Development ...............................................143
Conclusion ..........................................................................................150
6 Human Development as Social Welfare ..........................................151
Development Dimensions of Human Welfare ...............................152
Policy Dynamics of Human Welfare ...............................................157
Education, Human Development and the Revolution ..................158
Egalitarianism in the Form of Income Distribution ......................159
Inside the Revolution: Health Matters ............................................162
Conclusion ..........................................................................................168
7 Socialist Humanism and the Equality Predicament ......................171
Equality in Theory and Practice .......................................................173
Cuba before 1959 ...............................................................................176
Policy Dynamics of Poverty Alleviation: January
1959–September 1960 ...................................................................184
Policy Measures for Equality 1960–1985 ........................................187
contents vii
Consolidating the Transition ............................................................189
Human Development and Work ......................................................192
Human Development at Work: Egalitarianism as a
Socialist Work Ethic ......................................................................194
Gender Matters: Equality at Issue ....................................................196
Revolution and the Racial Divide ....................................................200
The Urban-Rural Divide....................................................................204
Conclusion ..........................................................................................205
8 Socialist Human Development
as Freedom ..........................................................................................209
Development as Freedom .................................................................210
Freedom as Emancipation ................................................................214
People’s Power in the Cuban Socialist State ....................................217
Institutional Dynamics of National Politics ...................................220
Beyond Elections: Debating Democracy and
Democracy in Cuba .......................................................................221
The CDR: Security versus Freedom .................................................225
Civil Society, the State and Democratic Politics.............................227
Democracy as Freedom .....................................................................230
El Barrio and the Dynamics of Participation and Local
Development ..................................................................................232
Conclusion ..........................................................................................233
9 In Solidarity: A Fundamental Principle of Socialist
Humanism ..........................................................................................237
Democracy as Social Solidarity ........................................................238
Solidarity within the Revolution ......................................................242
International Solidarity: Human Development as the
Export of Human Capital .............................................................243
La Patria Es Humanidad: Internationalism as a Reservoir
of Socialist Values ..........................................................................247
Conclusion ..........................................................................................251
PART III
A SOCIALIST ISLAND IN A SEA OF CAPITALISM
10 Human Development in an Era of Globalization ........................255
Cuba in the Vortex of a Crisis: The Revolution
Under Siege .................................................................................256
Grappling with Inequality ..............................................................262
viii contents
Public Action Dynamics of Human Development
in a Crisis .....................................................................................266
Freedom and Democracy in a Crisis .............................................270
Social Participation and Local Development in an
Era of Neoliberal Globalization ................................................273
Conclusion ........................................................................................275
11 Continuity and Change: The Revolution in the New
Millennium .......................................................................................277
Holding the Line on Socialism .......................................................278
Advances, Virtues and Vices ...........................................................281
Challenges of the ‘Post-Special Period’ .........................................285
Economic Reforms and Human Development Matters ..............295
Income-Based Social Welfare .........................................................297
The Scope of Raul’s Economic Reforms ........................................299
Contradictions and Problems, Options and Solutions ...............310
Culture as a Pillar of the Revolution: Critics Within
and Without .................................................................................313
Fidel Castro on Revolutionary Morality and Education .............314
Socialist Consciousness and the Battle of Ideas ...........................317
Conclusion ........................................................................................320
12 Conclusion ........................................................................................321
Human Development Dynamics of Capitalism
and Socialism ...............................................................................322
Revolution as Human Development .............................................323
Human Development as Revolutionary Consciousness .............325
Human Development as Social Welfare ........................................325
Human Development as Equality ..................................................327
Human Development as Freedom .................................................328
Human Development as Solidarity ................................................330
Socialism in an Era of Neoliberal Globalization ..........................331
Socialism and Revolution in the New Millennium .....................332
Bibliography ............................................................................................333
Index ........................................................................................................365
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), which
financed the field research for the book. This financial support was
provided for a project designed and headed by Joseph Tharamangalam,
Adjunct Professor of International Development Studies at Saint
Mary’s University. Henry Veltmeyer served as co-applicant and chief
co-investigator on the project, and Mark Rushton conducted most of
the field research in Cuba. The authors would particularly like to
acknowledge the support and intellectual contributions of Joseph
Tharamangalam in conceiving of the project, which was to compare
Cuba and Kerala as cases of successful human development that raised
serious questions about the connection between economic growth and
social development. We would also like to acknowledge the support of
Raúl Delgado Wise, Director of the Doctoral Development Studies
Program at the Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas in providing a
research base for the publication project and full access to the magnifi-
cent facilities and resources of the program.
The authors would also like to acknowledge the emotional and per-
sonal support of their respective life partners, Annette Wright and
Veronica Cordero Trejo.
Henry Veltmeyer and Mark Rushton,
Zacatecas
January 2011