Books
Looking Forward
Comparative Perspectives on Cuba’s Transition
Edited by Marifeli Pérez-Stable
Foreword by Fernando Henrique Cardoso
University of Notre Dame Press, 2007
In Looking Forward, Marifeli Pérez-Stable and her colleagues imagine Cuba’s future after the “poof moment”—Jorge I. Domínguez’s vivid phrase—when the current regime will no longer exist. Written in an accessible style that will appeal to all interested readers, this volume does not try to predict how and when the Castro regime will end, but instead considers the possible consequences of change. Each chapter—prepared by an expert in the field—takes up a basic issue: politics, the military, the legal system, civil society, gender, race, economic transition strategies, social policy and social welfare, corruption, the diaspora, memory, ideology and culture, and U.S.-Cuba relations.
The author of each chapter considers three questions: How have other new democracies handled the basic issue in question? How might Cuba’s unique conditions affect this area in transition? What are the likely outcomes and alternatives for a Cuba in transition? Designed with students, policy-makers, and journalists in mind, this lively and accessible volume is an essential resource.
CONTRIBUTORS: Gustavo Arnavat, Jorge I. Domínguez, Daniel P. Erikson, Damián J. Fernández, Alejandro de la Fuente, Mala Htun, William M. LeoGrande, Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Lisandro Pérez, Jorge F. Pérez-López, Marifeli Pérez-Stable, Rafael Rojas.
Praise
“When Fidel Castro is gone, Cuba will change. Whether change is peaceful or violent —or for good or ill—willl depend on whether we take the lessons offered in Perez-Stable´s collection of essays from the very best experts on Cuba. If there is to be a happy ending, then Looking Forward offers the best map yet on how to get there.“
—Ambassador (retired) Vicki J. Huddleston (former Principal Officer of the United States Interests Section in Havana, Cuba 1999–2002)
“This is the most important book about Cuba to appear in a generation. A group of ‘not-your-usual-émigrés’ and other experts who have taught us most of what we already know about contemporary Cuba have performed an extraordinary service to the policy and academic communities—and their _patria_—in imagining Cuba’s future after Fidel. Building on their diverse expertise in politics, economic reform, civil-military relations, social policy, race, gender, and cultural relations, and drawing from models around the world of regime transitions gone wrong and right, their compelling essays project Cuba’s recent past onto its immediate future and lay a blueprint for a free, democratic, and just society. There is quite simply no book like it.”
—Frances Hagopian, Michael Grace II Associate Professor of Latin American Studies, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame
“Fidel Castro’s illness and the transfer of power to his brother Raúl in July 2006 have opened speculation about Cuba’s future as never before. In this extraordinary collection of essays, noted scholars of Cuba’s politics, economy, society, diaspora, and international relations explore multiple scenarios regarding the island’s future, based on a comparative understanding of outcomes in Latin American and Eastern European transitions. The result is an influential book that will shape our collective understanding of Cuba for many years to come.”
—Dr. Cynthia J. Arnson, Director, Latin American Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
“There are few if any serious, balanced, and comprehensive appraisals of the various futures open to Cuba upon the death of Fidel Castro. For those interested in these matters, this book is a treasure trove of data, analysis, and innovative thinking about Cuba’s precarious future. Its originality lies first in the fact that each chapter offers detailed descriptions of processes and lessons from other Latin American and socialist contexts that shed light on what is likely to happen in Cuba. At the same time, these chapters manage to give credit to the unique and exceptional nature of Cuban history, nationalism, and socialism so that lessons are not applied blindly with no eye to their applicability in the Cuban context.”
—Ted Henken, Baruch College
Order Looking Forward from University of Notre Dame Press
Foreword by Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Introduction by Marifeli Pérez-Stable
EFE article on book launch event in Washington, December 6, 2007 (PDF)
Reviews
“Informed by the experiences of socialist transitions in eastern Europe and East Asia, leading experts on Cuba offer stimulating speculations on post-Castro scenarios . . . The volume includes a number of outstanding chapters. Carmelo Mesa-Lago suggests plausible ways that a post-Castro Cuba could achieve greater economic efficiency without sacrificing social equity, and Daniel Erikson offers striking insights on how to escape the corruption curse. And the always eloquent William LeoGrande provocatively suggests that Miami’s hard-line Cuba lobby may prove to be a paper tiger when the moment for normalization finally arrives.”
— Foreign Affairs
“The quality of the contributions makes the book an essential addition to the understanding of the current Cuban reality. Frequently, the essays are updates of broader studies or lines of work with years of experience.”
— El País
The Cuban Revolution
Origins, Course, Legacy
By Marifeli Pérez-Stable
Oxford University Press, 1994, 1999
This timely and provocative study provides a reexamination of the achievements and failures of the Cuban revolution, placing it firmly within the context of twentieth century Cuban history. 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 which made Cuba susceptible to revolution, including its one-crop (sugar) economy and U.S. interference in Cuban affairs. While identifying nationalism and the struggle for social justice as the legitimate forces behind the revolution, 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 country’s economy, to sustain development, or to create democratic institutions.
Now in its second edition, The Cuban Revolution has been updated to include an entirely new chapter on the changes affecting Cuba’s policies and economy since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the failure of communism in general. The second edition also includes a new preface, an up-to-date bibliography, and a thoroughly revised concluding chapter summing up the prospects and possibilities of Cuba’s future in the twenty-first century. Ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in Latin American history and politics, The Cuban Revolution offers students fresh insights into the successes and failures of the Cuban Revolution.
Praise
“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 no 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 — 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 haft a century. This is no small achievement, and it establishes Pérez-Stable as a major voice in the study of Latin American politics and society.”
–Lars Schoultz, University of North Carolina