This accessible, up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to modern Cuba provides an overview of Cuban history with particular emphasis on the country's post-Soviet economic collapse, the measures that President Castro's government took in response, and their ensuing results and impact.This book neither paints Cuba as a perfect society nor universal model for Third World development. But it does argue that Cuba demonstrates that even relatively small countries can pursue a path of economic and social development that avoids the problems endemic in the rest of Latin America. The author also argues that the country's political stability is not merely the result of authoritarianism, but that important elements of democracy involve participation and help generate public support.Cuba today continues to have huge problems, but the wider significance of the Cuban Revolution rests on its practical demonstration that it is possible to pursue radical and humane development policies which are at complete variance with the increasingly criticised nostrums of neoliberal economics being foisted on the rest of the world.
'Saney provides a most impressive sweep over the dynamics of survival and change in the Cuban revolution over the last decade. As a highly informative and insightful look into the Cuban Revolution today there is no book like it. It is a must read not only for Cubanologists but anyone interested in understanding not only how the Revolution has managed to survive decades of US imperialism and the most severe crisis in its history but the fact that it continues to work--and serve as an example, if not model, of a systematic alternative to world capitalism. Well researched and very well written.' Henry Veltmeyer, Saint Mary's University 'Saney's book is a comprehensive and balanced primer on Cuba and the progress its Revolution has brought the Cuban people. It is highly readable for anyone interested in understanding that nation's ongoing struggle for social justice. In particular, his discussion of inequality and race is the best available in the literature.' Cliff Durand, Morgan State University 'Almost forty-five years have passed since the Cuban Revolution. Has it been successful? Has it failed? Have racism and sexism been eradicated? Is there criminal justice? These are only some of the issues that Saney tackles in this easy-to-read yet profound book in which he offers a rare insight into how Cuba, a small and underdeveloped island nation, has been able to respond positively to the social needs of its population.' Susan Hurlich, a journalist and anthropologist 'I lamented this book had not come out in time to be THE required text for my Special Topics in Cuban Culture and Society course. This book is not just one of the best introductions to a much contested subject, but also one of the most thoughtful discussions; very political in the true sense of the word. I had been hoping for something like that to be available. I recommend it to everyone, particularly students with an individual interest in Cuba.' Claudia Kaiser-Lenoir, Tufts University