“Bowling for Dollars”: Economic Conflicts and Challenges in Contemporary Cuba

Abstract

This paper has two primary and interrelated objectives. The first is to examine how the very nature of Cuban society has been instrumental in the fractured perseverance of socialism in Cuba. The second objective is to assess the impact of “dollarization” (the legalization of the US dollar) on social and political relations. The social relations that were fostered during the “high period” of socialism in Cuba have been challenged like never before during the “Special Period,” placing extreme pressures on the Socialist state. Oddly enough, capitalist-inspired remedies such as the hyper-development of tourism, the legalization of the dollar, and an emergent self-employment sector have dramatically altered the social landscape of the country while providing economic stability and, in turn, helping to preserve the government. In addition to providing stability, these policies have also generated new social conflicts or divides such as those between people who possess or can access dollars and those who cannot. While this paper avoids any hasty predictions about the future of Cuba, it does hope to broaden the dialogue by incorporating certain societal elements that are unique to this island nation and often absent from discussions about the future of Cuba.

Destino seguro : Sensual Licence and Moral Capital in Cuba’s Nation Brand

“…Sex tourism in particular has been a disproportionate focus of scholarship, with Jafari Allen, like others, interpreting it as "a painful reminder of the limits of the success of the Revolution" (2011, p. 164). In addition to the re-emergence of sex tourism, research from the 2000s-largely by social anthropologists-cited troubling social consequences such as the exclusion of Cubans from tourist spaces (Espino, 2000), stratification of society according to access to dollars (Jackiewicz, 2002), racist hiring practices and increased racial discrimination (de la Fuente, 2001) and the devalorization of state jobs (Ritter & Henken, 2015).…”

The Working World of the Paladar: The Production of Contradictory Space during Cuba's Period of Fragmentation

“…There is an almost inseparable relationship between jineteros and (especially illegal) paladares. Cuba's history of strong social networks, reciprocity, and the accumulation of social capital (see Rosendahl 1997;Jackiewicz 2002) plays into the growth of this scattered sector of haggling laborers. Many times, relationships are forged between paladares and jineteros because of pre-existing social bonds.…”