Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exploring The Cultural And Infrastructural Impacts Of Consumerism On The New Cuba, Grace Stainback

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

This paper seeks to explore how a shifting economic model and an increasing influx of U.S. tourism, customs, and products will impact consumerism and waste in Cuba. The paper begins by charting the rise of an unwitting conservationist culture among Cubans, built out of necessity as a response to Castro-era economic hardships. This is followed by a discussion of recent Cuban economic reforms and the rise of tourism, private enterprise and material luxury in Cuba. For the emerging autonomous economic class who have shouldered decades of scarcity, the social and economic values of consumerism far outweigh any perceived environmental cost. …

The Effects Of Policy On Cuban Transnational Families, Zoë Flanagan

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

This paper examines the effects of nations’ policies on transnational families, specifically looking at Cuban families. Transnationalism is a relatively young theory, it was developed in the mid-1990s as an alternative to the migration theories of assimilation and integration. Scholars argued at the time that migrants were actively maintaining ties with their homeland while also establishing themselves in their respective receiving nations. The transnational practices of families are greatly impacted by the policies of both the home nation and the receiving nation, making Cuba a unique case to examine given the governments’ extreme control over migration since the revolution in …

The “Necessary Evil”: State And Non-State Sector Interactions In Cuba And Effects On Public Services, Laura Lyons

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

Five years after Lineamientos reforms were approved by the 2011 Communist Party Congress, the effects are beginning to emerge. The development of the private or non-State sector in particular has begun to cause shifts in the economic, social, and political landscape as Cuba continues to adapt to and implement these changes. This paper explores the effects of the expansion of the non-State sector on the delivery of State-run public services, especially education, health care, and other social services. Four possible orientations between the State and non-State sector are explored in general and in the context of existing literature on Cuba, …

Education And The Economy: The Rising Private Sector’S Effect On University Enrollment And Post-Graduation Employment In Contemporary Cuba, Adriane Bolliger

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

During Cuba’s Socialist Revolution of the 1960s, the education system was restructured to train and prepare citizens as part of the subsidized state-owned universal education model. In a centrally-planned system like Cuba’s, the state determines the needs of the economy and provides corresponding funding for associated educational and vocational training programs. Students who graduate from these programs transition into government jobs with modest stipends to support the state. Fidel Castro envisioned this system as the solution to Cuba’s instability based on full employment and prosperity for the public and for the state.

Change came in 2008 when presidential power was …

History In Motion: Seeing Cuba’S Future Through The Past And Present, Kevin Kecskes

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

This article is a foreword for Volume 3, Issue 1 of the Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs.

The Cuban Health Paradigm: An Exploratory Analysis Through Lgbtq And Hiv/Aids Individual Perspectives, Sarah Dryfoos

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

The purpose of this research project was to develop an understanding of the social, systemic, interpersonal, structural, and political dynamics of the health care system in Cuba. This was done by selecting two populations of focus; LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS positive individuals. The health care system and social determinants of health are analyzed using these two populations as lenses. While there is a plethora of information about the formal Cuban health care system, there is a dearth of literature pertaining to the social determinants, especially as it relates to LGBTQ Cubans and their quality of life and health care experience. To …