Cuba's Evolving Civil Society
Spalding, Hobart
NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS reviews Cuba’s Evolving Civil Society by Hobart Spalding ThE ChANgINg DyNAMIC OF CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETy Alexander J. Gray and Antoni Kapcia, eds., 2008,...
...For the most part, the book’s tone is academically neutral, which sometimes results in enough qualifying phrases to rob the material of meaning...
...These contrasting positions resulted in a confused and often contradictory posture by the state toward these groups...
...This is not just idle speculation...
...or (3) they will work with the Revolution to strengthen it...
...The government always moved cautiously and suspiciously, careful to preserve the basic material gains of the Revolution at minimally acceptable levels...
...Some selections include extensive interview material with actors on the ground, and all make broad use of Cuban sources...
...First, civil society and the state are not incompatible within the Cuban context...
...Civil society is not about to go away, and it will surely evolve along with the Cuban economy and society...
...By the end one almost wishes for some of the good old polemics that Cuba inspires in many authors...
...NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS reviews Cuba’s Evolving Civil Society by Hobart Spalding ThE ChANgINg DyNAMIC OF CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETy Alexander J. Gray and Antoni Kapcia, eds., 2008, University Press of Florida, 208 pp., hardcover, $59.95 deep-rooted and meaningful debate has marked the course of the Cuban Revolution from its inception...
...Although the debate started in the late 1980s, it flourished during the Special Period after the fall of the Soviet Union, which rocked Cuba’s economy and society as GDP fell about 40...
...The state continues to control resources and must approve all plans put forth by organizations...
...its mere existence creates apprehension among NGOs...
...But this could only be done with outside help, either through NGOs, the growth of a private economy, or local empowerment...
...As the state contracted and resources became scarce after Cuba’s cutoff from the socialist bloc’s Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) and its forced insertion into the world market, civil society expanded to fill the gaps...
...Among them were Catholics, Protestants, and African-based religious groups...
...It remains up to the Cuban people as well as the government to see that this process is one that reinforces and develops the goals of the Revolution without subverting them...
...As the island’s economic situation improved, new foreign (and some local) NGOs and solidarity organizations gradually moved into social development projects...
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...This triggered an intense debate and several reactions from the state and others...
...The United States’ open support for the expansion of a civil society that it brazenly endorsed as a vehicle to mold Cuban society in an image borrowed from Cuba’s past (see the Cuba Democracy Act of 1992, for example) only made the whole question thornier...
...The book’s central seven chapters, based on research that took place largely inside Cuba, look at the general situation and the political culture of the Revolution, the debate around civil society, the rise of the private sector, local actions, solidarity organizations and friendship groups, religion, and NGOs...
...Thus, the state maintains a watchful eye over the sector, even if this becomes counterproductive in many ways...
...The revival or growth of civil JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009 reviews society, largely as a humanitarian response to the economic crisis that hit Cuba after 1991, paved the way for future developments...
...What emerges from the whole is a comprehensive view of the development of Cuban civil society in the 1990s...
...It clearly develops two points...
...The quality and density of the writings vary, ranging from mostly descriptive and informative to somewhat interpretative...
...This contradicts some thinking on the part of those in Washington and Miami pushing for a “transition” in Havana...
...That this right is seldom if ever exercised makes little difference...
...In all, this is a useful volume with good information for anyone wishing to look at the development of civil society in Cuba in the decade or so after 1991...
...As the essays in this book describe, the process of adjustment on both sides is a constant dance between top-down management and real autonomy and space for both organizations and individuals...
...The reluctance on the part of elements within the government to cede real power to locals and decision making to communities has proven hard to overcome, as has the vision of all NGOs as real or potential agents of imperialism...
...The controversy about civil society is no exception: Does civil society have a place in socialist society, and if so, should it be independent of or dependent upon the state...
...Although credit is given to the Revolution for its successes, more ink is spilt on the negative side of things throughout...
...In fact, a state representative has the right to sit in on any meeting held by a recognized NGO...
...Some saw NGOs as incompatible with Cuba’s brand of socialism, others conceded their value but only as a short-term expedient, and still others argued that they were totally consistent with socialism and even necessary...
...The authors agree across the board that civil society has become an increasingly important part of the Cuban scene, although its scope and nature have changed over time...
...Also important has been the emergence of Cuban groups ranging from neighborhood-based associations to think tanks receiving support from a variety of sources outside the country...
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...This encouragement definitely had limits, however, as the closing of the semi-independent Center for the Study of the Americas (CEA) in the mid-1990s demonstrates...
...All Center members got new jobs, but the message rang clear...
...On the other hand, informal relations open the door to actions and inputs in gray areas, sometimes not officially sanctioned...
...The first essay sets the larger historical stage...
...The central questions of control versus democracy and local and individual initiative versus mobilization from above (through the staterun mass organizations) remained fraught with difficulties...
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...2) they will become a force against the Revolution...
...In many cases the government gave encouragement and backing...
...Further, it provided alternative spaces where people could act with fewer restraints than in official capacities...
...Interviews with foreign participants in NGOs reveal that a great deal of fuzziness exists as to the exact role they play and the actual limits on their actions...
...NACLA subscribers get access to 10 years of archived Reports free of charge, plus exclusive first access to the latest material...
...This does not necessarily imply, of course, opposition to the Revolution or the state, but may merely represent an alternative way toward jointly held goals...
...In addition, when an NGO-backed project gets off the ground, the state often moves in to take it over, sometimes with unfortunate results...
...the second presents conclusions...
...Nevertheless, elements within the new civil society connected to the emergent foreign sector or even to elements outside the country could turn into focal points for anti-revolutionary activities...
...Thus, discussions around “moral versus material incentives,” “the new socialist man,” and “rectification” (a reform movement begun in 1986, seeking to galvanize Cuban socialism, correcting abuses along the way) have reflected milestones in the Revolution’s development...
...Hobart Spalding is a member of the NACLA Editorial Committee...
...Second, again contrary to some writings about the island, the state has always supported civil society in some way or another...
...But nevertheless, expanded civil society— despite all controls—has remained a permanent feature of the Cuban landscape...
...Clearly, strict regulation is the norm (i.e., they cannot open bank accounts or use hard currency, and they must work through an approved Cuban partner...
...Along with this came a new, if at times begrudging, tolerance for expanded activities in the social, economic, and— eventually—cultural areas...
...The writers are almost all academics residing in the United Kingdom, and their perspectives often provide a welcome relief from those of standard, polarized U.S...
...After the formal recognition of religious believers (creyentes) in the 1992 Constitutional Revisions, a number of religious organizations formed groups that eventually got state recognition...
...The scope and nature of that support has changed over time, and it will continue to change in the future...
...NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS reviews The editors conclude that three possible outcomes exist for the new formations of civil society: (1) They will lead a revolution inside the Revolution...
...Nonetheless, politics inevitably creeps into the pages, ranging from covert hostility to cautious doubts about the Revolution...
...Two essays by the editors complement these chapters...
...This collection of essays examines that debate and the evolution of civil society in Cuba during the 1990s and early 2000s, marking a new stage of the Revolution...
...Civil society expanded in at least two other important areas...
...As with the NGOs, these groups have enjoyed varied relations with the state and have voiced opinions ranging from critical to favorable...
...Here too relations with the state have taken several turns...
...By the first years of the 21st century, civil society had become a fixture on the Cuban landscape, one not likely to disappear...
Vol. 42 • January 2009 • No. 1
