Inside the Revolution: Everyday Life in Socialist Cuba (The Anthropology of Contemporary Issues)
"It is remarkable that of the hundreds of books published in recent decades on Cuba, so few have provided detail about the impact of Castro's regime on ordinary Cubans. Rosendahl's book does so, and for this reason is an invaluable contribution. . . . Inside the Revolution looks at family matters, marriage and work, household economies, bureaucracy, and the concept of mobilization, among other subjects. . . . Attractively printed . . . interesting photographs."—Choice"Rosendahl, a Swedish anthropologist, has written a rare close-up analysis of how the ideology of the Cuban revolution translates itself into everyday experience. Her study of a municipality in Oriente province provides a nuanced antidote to those who would argue that the regime no longer enjoys grassroots support."—Kenneth Maxwell, Foreign Affairs"This book not only contributes substantively to our understanding of what the Cuban revolution has meant to its people, but it offers invaluable methodological insight into the challenges of ethnographic research in a society where critical discourse is more tightly controlled. . . . This book not only informs, but entreats students of political economy, Latin cultures, gender roles, and social stratification to go beyond their preconceived ideas and take a systematic, firsthand look at Cuban socialism—its strengths and weaknesses. Rosendahl's observations and insights into Cuban life as well as her experiences in doing research in such a unique society should prove invaluable to a wide audience."—Contemporary Sociology"Inside the Revolution is a seriously researched and . . . well-written monograph."—Gert Oostinde, New West Indian Guide. 1999."Rosendahl's overall focus is ideology—understood broadly as a set of ideas that deals with society and social relations in terms of what is, what ought to be, and what may be. However, her aim is to demonstrate how the official political ideology is met and interpreted from a local point of view. Thus, she not only examines the premises and contents of the official ideology, but also examines how the ideology is codified and experienced in everyday life."—Marit Melhuus, University of Oslo. Ethnos Vol. 64:3, 1999"Rosendahl's ethnography takes readers to a place and time when Cubans suffered fewer hardships and shared a stronger faith in the Castro government: Orient province in the late 1980s. . . The study analyzes the transmission of socialist ideology, its translation into practice, and its refashioning into a 'folk version' of the official revolutionary discourse by ordinary Cubans. . . Her observations and interviews offer rare and valuable insights into life in provincial Cuba."—Michael Snodgrass, Indiana University-Purdue University, Latin American Research Review, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2001