I am happy to report the publication of Cuba’s Caribbean Marxism: Essays on Ideology, Government, Society, and Economy in the Post Fidel Castro Era (Little Sir Press 2018; ISBN: 978-1-949943-00-9 (pbk); I SBN: 978-1-949943-01-6 (ebk)). The book includes a brilliant Foreword by Flora Sapio. The book is available on Kindle and through other eBook distributors. Order Kindle edition HERE. Other ordering information to follow.
Over the course of future posts I will be introducing readers to the book. This post includes the Detailed Table of Contents and Summary Introduction.
HERE for the video recording of the launch event for Cuba's Caribbean Marxism: Essays on Ideology, Government, Society, and Economy in the Post Fidel Castro Era, which took place 12 November 2018 at Penn State
HERE for the video recording of the launch event for Cuba's Caribbean Marxism: Essays on Ideology, Government, Society, and Economy in the Post Fidel Castro Era, which took place 12 November 2018 at Penn State
-->__________ContentsForeword xiFlora SapioPreface and Acknowledgements xviiThanks xviiAcknowledgements xviiiList of Terms and Abbreviations xxiiIntroduction 1Chapter 1: Pearl of the Caribbean and Mother of Marxism 51.1 Cuban Transformation Since European Discovery 61.2 Organization of the Chapters that Follow 111.3 References 16Chapter 2: The Centrality of Ideology to CaribbeanMarxism 192.1 Ideological Paths Toward Socialist Modernization:China Versus Cuba 222.1.1 The Centrality of Ideology 252.12. The Cuban Ideological Path—FromRevolution To Lineamientos 272.1.3 The Consequences of Ideology for State andParty Organization and Function 292.2 The Consequences of Ideology on EconomicReform: Occupational Licensing, Cooperativesand Ley 118 362.2.1 The Cuban Legal Context 362.2.2 China and Alternative Paths to MarxismLeninism 392.3 Ideology and Transition—Cuba at a Crossroads 432.4 Conclusion 452.5 References 48Chapter 3: Cuban Leninism as Praetorian Marxism 553.1 Cuba in a Wider Marxist-Leninist Context 563.2 The Comparative View from North Korea 583.3 Conclusion 683.4 References 69Chapter 4: “Order, Discipline, and Exigency:” FromIdeology to Lineamientos and Reform with CubanCharacteristics 714.1 The Lineamientos 794.1.1 General Provisions 814.1.2 Education 844.1.3 Sport 934.1.4 Culture 954.2 Moving Forward 984.3 Conclusion 1114.4 Appendix A 1124.4 References 113Chapter 5: The Current State of Political Ideology:Caribbean Marxism from Lineamientos to(Re)Conceptualization of the Political andEconomic Model 1195.1 The Process of the 7th PCC Congress: A Step Backfrom the 6th PCC Congress or a Step Forward forSocialist Democracy? 1255.2 The Substance of the 7th PCC Congress: ‘Reformand Opening Up’ or a Failure to Adjust to aNew Era? 1355.3 Conclusions and Implications 1505.4 References 154Chapter 6: The Ideology of Central Planning in theEconomic and Social Development Plan 2030 1596.1 The Plan Nacional de Desarrollo Económico ySocial Hasta 2030 (National Economicand Social Development Plan 2030) (PNDES) 1636.1.1 Introduction (¶¶ 1-11); ONDES Section 1 1646.1.2 Guiding Principles and Thematic Categoriesfor the Elaboration of PNDES 1656.1.3 National Vision 2030; PNDES Section III 1666.1.4 Strategic Themes; PNDES Section IV 1676.1.5 Identification of Strategic Economic Sectors(¶¶ 221-251); PNDES Section V 1746.1.6 Definitions and Glosses on Key Terms 1776.2 From Theory to Decision-Making Structures: HowPNDES Informs Approaches to DevelopmentWithout Market Mechanisms 1806.2.1 Extracting and Restating PNDES asAlgorithm 1821. Core Vision 1832. Second Order Calculus forDiscrete Decision Making 1853. Putting the Equations Together 1916.2.2 The Caveats 1936.3 Conclusion 1956.4 References 196Chapter 7: Sovereign Finance, Odious Debt Doctrine,and Reform 1997.1 Traditional Odious Draft Doctrine 2057.2 From a Focus on the Debtor to a Focus on the Lender 2107.3 Application to the Situation in Cuba 2177.4 The Silver Lining 2217.4.1 Mandatory Terms and Safe Harbors 2257.4.2 Presumptions of Benefit 2267.4.3 From Repudiation to Responsibility Shifting 2267.4.4 Limiting the Bite of Complicity WhileManaging its Occurrence 2277.4.5 Normalizing Systems of Management ofGlobal Debt in Global Institutions 2287.5 Conclusion 2297.6 References 230Chapter 8: The Role of Labor Cooperatives in CubanReform 2378.1 Economic Organizations in Cuba—LimitingPower of Individuals to Aggregate Capital orLabor Absent State Oversight 2428.1.1 Resetting the RegulatoryContext—The Lineamientos 2428.1.2 Economic Organization—The OmnipresentState Sector 2488.1.3 Private Enterprise 2498.2 The Cooperative in Cuba—An Increasingly FlexiblePost-Revolutionary Device 2548.2.1 History of Cooperatives in Cuba Post 1959 2548.2.2 Cooperatives in the Lineamientos andBeyond—Party Line and Legal Changes 2558.2.3 The Cooperative as Proletarian Corporation 2588.3 The Cooperative in Global Context—Theory andEngagement in Cuba and the ALBA Zone 2688.4 Conclusion 2728.5 References 274Chapter 9: The Challenge of Regulatory Reform: TheExample of Labor Cooperative Regulation 2799.1 The PCC Guidance for Labor Cooperative Regulation 2829.1.1 The Lineamientos 2839.1.2 The Thrust of the PCC Guidance 2879.2 The December 2012 Regulatory Framework 2879.2.1 Consejo de Estado Decreto-Ley No. 305(Consejo de estado 2012ª)—The Corporate Law of Cooperatives 2889.2.2 Consejo de Estado Decreto-LeyNo. 306—Governmental Impositionsand the private sector contributionsto the National Social Security System 2999.2.3 Council of Ministers DecreeNo. 309—The Implementing Regulations 3009.2.4 The Ministerial Resolutions9.3 The Problem of Labor and the Construction ofSocialism in Cuba 3069.3.1 The Lineamientos Point to ConceptualDifferences Among PCC Factions 3079.3.2 The Economic Reforms May beImpeded by the Need for Legal Reform 3109.3.3 The Regulations Produce the Form ofRule of Law Frameworks but Preservethe Political Discretion of the Stateto Make the Rules Available to Individuals 3119.4 The Problem of Labor Under the Regime of Capital 3139.5 Conclusion 3169.6 References 317Chapter 10: Globalization and the Caribbean MarxistMultinational: Cuba and Regional Trade 32110.1 The Grannacional—As Concept, Project, andEnterprise 32610.2 From Theory to Practice: Just Commerce,Grannacional Organization, and the Misones 33610.3 Points of Conflict and Intersection BetweenALBA ‘Just Commerce’ Principles andInternational Human Rights Standards 34710.4 Conclusion 35910.5 References 360Chapter 11: Reform and Global Corporate SocialResponsibility: Inbound Investment, andOutbound Economic Activity 36711.1 The Emerging Structures of Global Human Rights 37011.1.1 The UNGPs 37011.1.2 The OECD Guidelines for MNEs 37111.1.3 The UN Global Compact 37211.1.4 BITs with Human Rights Components 37211.1.5 Third Party Standards 37311.1.6 MNE Internal Norms as the ‘Internal Law’of the Enterprise 37311.2 Cuban Investment Structure 37411.2.1 Inbound Investment 37411.2.2 Outbound Investment 37611.3 When Global Regulation Initiatives Collide 377with Cuban Practice11.3.1 Convergence Through Trade and TradePractice 37811.3.2 Pressure from MNE Trading Partners andInvestors 38011.3.3 Pressure from International FinancialInstitutions (IFIs) 38111.3.4 Convergence Through Trade Agreements 38611.4 Flash Points and Conflict Zones 38711.5 Conclusion 38911.6 References 390Chapter 12: From Ideology to Cuban Constitutional Reform 39712.1 A New Constitution for Cuba: Principles and Reform 40112.2 The Constitution as Nkisi: Hope, Desire,and Distrust in Cuban Constitutional Reform 41012.3 Popular Referendum and Popular Constitution:Socialist Democracy in Caribbean Marxism 41712.4 Conclusion 42212.5 References 423Afterword 427
IntroductionThis book is about ideology. Ideology is the conceptual foundation for the individual and societal self-constitution. Ideology is the “fiat lux” (Genesis 1:3) of human organization, of self-awareness translatable into the organization of self and the self’s relations with others, and the development of systems for their orderly operation. It is the constitution of the basic taboos and compulsions that produce self-awareness and the referents from which the world can be known--and ordered. Ideology is the way in which objects are signified, and the way these can be made to point to truth or to lie.The theory and practice of ideology is usually of relevance in the margins of the study of law, politics, economics and the like. It is sometimes understood as “after the fact” posturing or rationalization of little intrinsic value except perhaps to students of propaganda. It is sometimes assumed that ‘nobody believes it;’ ideology is also said to be used and consumed but never embedded in the way people or institutions think or operate. This book will suggest that ideology quite consciously delimits but also makes possible the development of the principles through which individuals and communities can understand the world around. That fundamental understanding, made possible within the basic premises for ordering the world that constitutes ideology, is the essential understanding the sufficiency of which makes possible the ordering of social, political and economic lives and institutions, from and around these basic building block premises.This book is also more particularly about Cuba. Cuba serves as an ongoing living experiment in the possibilities of molding individuals and the society along the lines suggested by application of a quite explicit set of grounding principles. Is it possible to view the world solely from a very specific set of premises--in this case derived from European Marxist-Leninism and forged in the context of the socio-political effort of a small state to protect an autonomy from a powerful neighbor expressed as fundamental differences in social, economic, political and cultural organization? In the striving for that answer lies sometimes profound insights into the way that the interaction of ideology and social organization produces quite specific and sometimes predictable approaches to organization and protection of belief systems and their expression through self-disciplining institutions--even in the face of sometimes overwhelming external threat (or the blandishments of substantial material riches). Since 1959, the Cuban experiment with its own increasingly unique brand of Marxism-Leninism has been undertaken with extraordinary transparency. Like other important ideology producing states--the United States, China, and the European Union, Cuba has made it easy to examine the arc of inter-relationship between the development of ideology and the efforts, only sometimes successful, to embed that ideology in the operations of the institutions of Cuban politics, economics, culture, and international relations.The essays that comprise the twelve chapters of this book are drawn from a decade and more of thinking about Cuban ideology and its application in the wake of the passing of Fidel Castro, the charismatic founder of what these essays identify as Caribbean Marxism. Many of the chapters were first presented at a number of annual conferences of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, a non-profit, non-political organization incorporated in the state of Maryland in 1990 affiliated with the American Economic Association and the Allied Social Sciences Association of the United States. Together, these essays consider the arc of Cuban development during a crucial period from the effective assumption of power by Raúl Castro to the beginnings of efforts to prepare for the conclusion of the period of Cuban history dominated by the generation that brought to success the 1959 Revolution that ushered in the current socio-political system.The book is divided into twelve chapters, including this one. They are informally divided into two parts. The first seven chapters develop the conceptual framework for understanding Caribbean Marxism as a theory and the challenges that theory poses in the face of reform necessitated by changes in historical condition. Chapters 2 and 3 develop the baselines of Caribbean Marxism as to its normative principles (Chapter 2) and its organizational structures (Chapter 3). Chapter 4 then considers the role and principles of reform within those structures. Chapters 5 and 6 consider the way that reform has altered basic theoretical premises (Chapter 5), and the principles through which economic activity is conceptualized and organized (Chapter 6). Lastly, Chapter 7 takes Caribbean Marxism outward by examining the way it sees itself in the world and in shaping global discourse in the context of sovereign finance and its political ramifications.The book shifts focus in Chapters 8 through 12. Where Chapters 1 though 7 examine Caribbean Marxism in more abstract terms, Chapters 8 through 12 focus on the concrete manifestation of these abstract structures in several key areas--economic organization of the private sector, trade and investment, and lastly the project of constitutional reform. Chapters 8 and 9 consider the labor cooperative as a specific example of the way that ideology shapes reform, and constrains implementation. Chapters 10 and 11 turn to the outward expression of Caribbean Marxism. If Chapter 10 considers the projection of Caribbean Marxism outward, Chapter 11 considers the projection inward of global standards to Cuban economic activity. Chapter 12 ends this collection of essays by return to where they started--in an examination of the way that ideology shapes the core organization of the administrative state itself. Its focus specifically is the 2018 Cuban Constitutional reform initiative, through which ideology is incarnated in the organs of state.
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