Cuban Civil Society during and beyond the Special Period

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/intejcubastud.5.2.0168
• Pages: 168-183
• Published date: 01 October 2013
• Date: 01 October 2013
• Author: Velia Cecilia Bobes
• Subject Matter: Cuba,civil society,actors,discourses,Special Period,reforms

I J  C S 5.2 S 2013

CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETY DURING AND BEYOND

THE SPECIAL PERIOD

Velia Cecilia Bobes

Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Mexico

Abstract

This article analyses the ‘rebirth of civil society’ in Cuba as a consequence of the ‘Special

Period’ and the changes that have occurred in the last 25 years. It examines the evolution

of civil society and the constitution of the discursive f‌ield in which it has been def‌ined,

to explain how and to what limit the different discourses legitimise and enable the

understanding of the plurality of actors as well as their potential for action and inf‌luence

in the political processes. The analysis is divided into two stages: the founding phase (the

1990s) that begins with the arrival of the Special Period; and the consolidation stage,

which starts with the new century, in particular since 2007 with the ‘updating model’

that has begun to push deeper changes. This periodisation, in stages that are associated

with different state strategies, seeks a comparison to assess the impacts of each of the

challenges and proposals facing civil society.

Keywords: Cuba, civil society, actors, discourses, Special Period, reforms

Introduction

The ‘rebirth of Cuban civil society’ is irrevocably tied to the economic crisis of

the 1990s. The ‘Special Period in Times of Peace’ marked the beginning of a

series of changes in the economic model to guarantee the survival of socialism

in extremely diff‌icult conditions. With these economic transformations, the

‘mobilised society’ (of the ‘mass organisations’, the CDR, the FMC, etc.) showed

the f‌irst signs of pluralisation and heterogeneity; associations emerged based

on non-state solidarity networks; some social areas started to slip away from

state control and a discursive f‌ield about civil society began to surface. Faced

with a (discrete) withdrawal of the state and the fracture of the all-encompass-

ing symbolic universe, although the border between the social (civil) and the

state remained fuzzy, ‘civil society’ began to appear as a set of social actors,

more diverse and pluralistic than that described by the former vision of the

‘revolutionary people’.

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CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETY DURING AND BEYOND THE SPECIAL PERIOD 169

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During the last 25 years, the reforms have undergone various rhythms,

dynamics and f‌luctuations associated with the diverse political and economic

circumstances (as much in the associative sphere of civil society as in its

discursive f‌ield). The aim of this work is to analyse the evolution of both spheres

of Cuban civil society, from its ‘(re-)appearance’ to the present day, and explain

how and to what extent the different discourses allow us to grasp, assimilate and

legitimise the plurality of actors in the current scenario, in order to evaluate their

potential to act and inf‌luence political processes.

The analysis is divided into two broad stages: the foundational phase (the

1990s) which begins with the onset of the crisis and the economic reform of

1992–95, and the consolidation phase, which started with the new century

(particularly from the last f‌ive years), the transfer of power to Raúl Castro

and the ‘updating of the model’ which has begun to push deeper changes. This

division – in phases according to the strategies of the different states – seeks to

compare both points in time in order to evaluate the specif‌ic impacts of each of

the circumstances and proposals on civil society.

Special Period: New Actors

Although the crisis of the 1990s has been largely analysed from an economic

angle (detachment, loss of markets and f‌inancing, sharp decline in GDP, and

food, f‌inancial and energy restrictions), the collapse of the Soviet Union and the

disappearance of the COMECOM (Council of Mutual Economic Assistance)

of ‘real socialism’ also involved a paradigmatic crisis that questioned the

fundamentals of the legitimation of Cuba’s political system. Similarly, the

adjustments to the economic reform, which brought about the reversal in

the fall of the GDP and the recovery of some growth indicators, had, as an

‘unexpected consequence’, a diversif‌ication process of social actors and the

rebirth of civil society: the opening of the Cuban economy to the outside world

(mixed and foreign capital investments) and self-employment brought new

economic subjects, while the legalisation of foreign currency possession ushered

in remittances and double currency, introduced changes in consumption levels

and increased inequality. Finally, the decentralisation and rationalisation of the

state apparatus brought about a withdrawal from the state which paved the way

for greater social autonomy.

The resulting social pluralisation (which involved both the associative and

discursive spheres) was evidence of an increased social complexity which

challenged the certainty of social and political integration based on a uniformity

once taken for granted. In the associative f‌ield, the f‌irst non-state partnerships

emerge; NGOs and grassroots movements succeed in establishing their

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