Cubans work to improve their society while President Trump continues The War on the Cuban people . ("Trump put Cuba back on state sponsor of terrorism list — right where it belongs," the Miami Herald editorial board.)
Socialism and Democracy Book Review:
"SOCIAL AND SOLIDARITY ECONOMY IN CUBA: FOUNDATIONS AND PRACTICES FOR SOCIALIST DEVELOPMENT
Rafael J. Betancourt and Jusmary Gớmez Arencibia, editors, (London: Lexington Books, 2023),
342 pp., $120
(Professor Emeritus)
Published
online: 15 Jan 2025
Thousands of us have been working in solidarity with Cuba for years,
animated by the heroism of the Cuban revolutionaries, who built a guerrilla
army to overthrow the US created and backed Batista dictatorship. We have seen
a possible better future for all of humankind in the struggles and adaptations
of the revolutionary socialism being built in Cuba since 1959.
But sometimes our enthusiasms have led us to ignore the profound
difficulties the Cubans face, not only in overcoming the US’s economic
blockade, but in creating a just society out of mixed political and economic
institutions and the variety of ideological assumptions embedded in Cuban
society. This edited collection is designed to address the real complexities
that a society like Cuba faces in the task of building a humane socialism or
what is referred to in the collection of essays, as the “social and solidarity
economy” coupled with “social business responsibility.”
This collection was prepared by the Red Cubana de Economia Social y
Solidaria y Responsabilidatad Social Empresarial (ESORSE)–The Cuban Network of
Social and Solidarity Economy and Social Business Responsibility. ESORSE is a
network composed of Cuban academics, members of Cuban scientific institutions,
and activists from communities of cooperatives, communes, businesses and others
seeking to advance the project of the Cuban Revolution. The network pursues the
building of a social and solidarity economy (ESS) and social responsibility in
business (RS). As the editors say, the network, including this collection of
essays, is designed to connect stakeholders who are trying to build socialism.
They emphasize the need to prioritize human values over market values.
The collection’s nineteen essays address a variety of issues facing the
Cuban revolutionary project in the twenty-first century. These include the
relationship between the public and private sectors, the role of the state,
cooperatives, empowerment of workers, citizen participation in public policies
including budgetary matters, worker training, efficiencies and production
chains, and issues of gender sensitivity and those involving other “vulnerable
groups.”
The essays examine in detail the efforts of the Cubans and the policies
they adopted over the last decade to create a socialism that is both humane and
productive. In the first essay Enrique Gớmez Cabezas points out that socialism
offers the opportunity of building equal and liberatory relationships, even
though the task is difficult given the historic role capitalism has played on
the collective mindset of the people.
In the second essay, Betancourt addresses two documents endorsed by the
Cuban Communist Party over the last decade that aid “to combine innovation and
continuity,” given the crises caused by United States foreign policy and the
Covid epidemic. He reviews the history of Cuban private enterprises,
cooperatives, and the activities of industrial and service workers. As
emphasized by all nineteen essays, a socialist economy is supposed to serve the
people, not to generate profit for owners. The essay by Ovideo D’Angelo
Hernandez grounds the discussion of ESS in the literature and policies
practiced throughout Latin America. To this extent the Cuban project, it is
suggested, is not unique but part of a larger discussion ensuing in the Global
South.
Subsequent chapters deal with the role of the state, not assuming the
role of entrepreneur, Cubans participating in budgeting, and “the inclusion of
vulnerable groups” both as beneficiaries and participants in ESS. A
sophisticated essay, “Population, Value Chains and Social and Solidarity
Economy,” addresses the literature on economic development and population, an
issue not usually addressed by observers of the Global South.
Other essays address “public-private partnerships,” the social
responsibility of businesses, the law of cooperatives, and their significance
for building Cuban socialism from the bottom up. Several essays provide data on
cooperatives, comparisons between agricultural and industrial co-ops, and their
potential for increasing sensitivity to the environment, and equitable gender
roles. The volume concludes with an essay on institutional social
responsibilities, pointing to “a new global context.” The essay asserts that
while these are difficult times they open the door for reflection on the old
ways and what needs change.
This volume is dense, filled with useful data about Cuba and raises the
very difficult questions about building a humane socialism. The essays can be
used to reflect on the multiplicity of changes now going on in the Global
South. The Cuban experience addressed in this collection can be seen in the
light of the issues that most countries of the Global South face as they debate
how to confront the spirit of anti-colonialism. These issues link the present
with the past and continue the legacy of the non-aligned movement, the New
International Economic Order, and various contemporary experiments at national
sovereignty and multilateralism.
The essays in this volume suggest how readers and activists in the US and
elsewhere must step up activism to oppose the economic blockade of Cuba and
other efforts that impede the serious work of building a Social and Solidarity
Economy in Cuba. And, most importantly, the essays use research and lived
experiences to address the complex issues the Cubans face.
