Everyday Adjustments in Havana

Economic Reforms, Mobility, and Emerging Inequalities

By (author) Hope Bastian

Publication date:

18 June 2018

Length of book:

214 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498571098

By comparing the current reform process under President Raúl Castro to Cuba’s opening to market capitalism during the 1990s Special Period crisis, Everyday Adjustments in Havana: Economic Reforms, Mobility, and Emerging Inequalities highlights the differences and continuities between adjustments in both periods and their social impacts. It explores the impacts of specific policies such as the expansion of self-employment and the recreation of a private housing market, examining how changes in domestic and international policies after 2011 have modified the post-Special Period status quo and contributed to the formation of new social groups that did not previously exist in Cuba’s Socialist society.

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Understanding Inequality in Cuba
Chapter 1: The Political and Social Context of Contemporary Cuba
Chapter 2: Changing Configurations of Capital and Logics of Stratification in Cuban Society
Chapter 3: Stratification, Income, and Cultural Consumption in Contemporary Cuba
Chapter 4: “Adjusting To the Adjustment”: Household Reproduction Strategies and New Economic Spaces in Havana, 2010–2015
Chapter 5: The Rebirth of Real Estate: Reproducing Class Inequalities in Havana
Epilogue: New Social Groups in Havana, 2015–2016

Appendix A: Frequent Research Contacts, Informal Interviews
References
Index
About The Author

Bastian is uniquely positioned to explain the intricacies and conundrums of daily life in contemporary Cuba. Her years of experience in Havana teaching foreign university students shine through in this detailed and entertaining book. Everyday Adjustments in Havana opens our eyes to new empirical data and a fresh conceptual take on social capital. Bastian’s methodological and theoretical innovations bring to life Cuban debates about egalitarianism and inequality. Spirited anecdotes and considered analysis reveal how social, political, and financial capital are converging to shape the island’s development.