Inside El Barrio: A Bottom-Up View of Neighborhood Life in Castro's Cuba Review

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(More customer reviews)Henry Louis Taylor has produced an accessible and important work with Inside El Barrio. His review of the pre-revolutionary period gives us an excellent grasp of the ways in which the U.S. military occupation set the stage for continued exploitation and suppression of the Cuban people through the first half of the 20th century. We see the enormous obstacles the Revolutionaries had to overcome post-1959 and the practical decisions taken toward those goals. The 'boogeyman" of Cuba is peeled away to reveal that the development of this unique nation has been undertaken methodically and with one common goal: a better society, with justice and equality. Taylor does not turn a blind eye to the problems faced by Cuba, rather, he places the struggle in a context to which we can relate: neighbourhoods, communities, relationships, families. Highly recommended.

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* Revealing portrait of daily life in Cuba that explores how the socialist system has operated on the ground over the last two decades* Shows how social networks and neighborhoods were critical in sustaining Fidel's regime while other socialist countries were collapsing in the late 80sThe abrupt collapse of the Soviet Union and the East European Communist Bloc in 1989 plunged Cuba into a catastrophic economic crisis that spawned unprecedented hardship, magnified social tensions, and emigration in the thousands. In July 1990, a somber Fidel Castro called upon the masses to prepare for a sustained period of hard times.Inside El Barrio charts the legacy of Fidel Castro through the unique lens of Cuban household life duringEl Período Especial (the Special Period).Taylor traverses the neighborhoods and residential developments of Havana between 1989 and 2006, the final and most complex period in the "Age of Castro's Cuba" to uncover the hidden vibrancy of Cuba's streets and citizens. In doing so, he acquires a deeper understanding of Cuban society by exploring what it means to live in a people-centered nation and the importance of neighborhoods in shaping everyday life and culture.