Cuba has undergone extreme political, economic and cultural change since 1953 and is an extraordinary anomaly of communist rule, surviving in a capitalistic world. The Cuban Revolution of 1959, led by Fidel Castro and his 26th of July movement, saw the overthrow of the then Cuban President, Fulgenico Batista. Since the revolt, Castro governed a communist-socialist state and the country has experienced many political, societal and economic difficulties despite having one of the best education and health systems in the world; this is largely due to the post-revolutionary governance, U.S Blockade and collapse of the Soviet Union.
Douglas Hamilton is a research economist and the coordinator of the Cuba Support Group in Belfast. He has worked in …show more content…
Hamilton believes that the Cuban Revolution can be broken down into 6 key stages of political development. He begins his article by giving a brief description of each key stage, from 1959 to 2002. Discussions include the changes throughout the Cuban revolution, the Soviet Union and economic reform implications on class and currency structures. The author then goes on to address the future political economic considerations for Cuba, by highlighting two key issues regarding the lifting of the U.S blockade and Cuba’s stance on Socialism, (Hamilton, 2002).
This review will include a précis and critical analysis of “Whither Cuban Socialism: The changing political economy of the Cuban revolution”, by drawing on the works of economic historian Karl Polanyi.
Hamilton begins by outlining the six key stages of political development after the revolution, first of which is the nationalisation of the Cuban economy from 1959-1963. He gives an insight on how the 10 years succeeding the revolution brought about slow growth for the Cuban economy with increases in unemployment and inequality between capital, land and labor …show more content…
Large state farms were broken into segments for production. Heavy emphasis on the tourism industry as part of increased foreign investment which eventually overtook the dependency on the sugar harvest. Dual currency was introduced, using the US Dollar alongside the Cuban Pesos, this has led to many inequalities that still exist today. These Special Period changes resulted in economic growth of up to 7.8% in 1996 & 6.2% in 1999 and even though the U.S tightened the blockade, Cuba still managed to maintain its free education and health care policy objectives.
1994 to present is the 6th stage. Crisis still existed in 2002 even though initiatives during the Special Period resulted in growth. There were big consequences for socioeconomic development due to the lack of proper maintenance and control; The economy being split into two sectors of exports and domestic, dual currency causing inequalities amongst workers in different sectors and the effect of these problems on social
Douglas Hamilton is a research economist and the coordinator of the Cuba Support Group in Belfast. He has worked in …show more content…
Hamilton believes that the Cuban Revolution can be broken down into 6 key stages of political development. He begins his article by giving a brief description of each key stage, from 1959 to 2002. Discussions include the changes throughout the Cuban revolution, the Soviet Union and economic reform implications on class and currency structures. The author then goes on to address the future political economic considerations for Cuba, by highlighting two key issues regarding the lifting of the U.S blockade and Cuba’s stance on Socialism, (Hamilton, 2002).
This review will include a précis and critical analysis of “Whither Cuban Socialism: The changing political economy of the Cuban revolution”, by drawing on the works of economic historian Karl Polanyi.
Hamilton begins by outlining the six key stages of political development after the revolution, first of which is the nationalisation of the Cuban economy from 1959-1963. He gives an insight on how the 10 years succeeding the revolution brought about slow growth for the Cuban economy with increases in unemployment and inequality between capital, land and labor …show more content…
Large state farms were broken into segments for production. Heavy emphasis on the tourism industry as part of increased foreign investment which eventually overtook the dependency on the sugar harvest. Dual currency was introduced, using the US Dollar alongside the Cuban Pesos, this has led to many inequalities that still exist today. These Special Period changes resulted in economic growth of up to 7.8% in 1996 & 6.2% in 1999 and even though the U.S tightened the blockade, Cuba still managed to maintain its free education and health care policy objectives.
1994 to present is the 6th stage. Crisis still existed in 2002 even though initiatives during the Special Period resulted in growth. There were big consequences for socioeconomic development due to the lack of proper maintenance and control; The economy being split into two sectors of exports and domestic, dual currency causing inequalities amongst workers in different sectors and the effect of these problems on social