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Critical Reflexivity, Contradictions and Modern Cuban Consciousness

Central Michigan University

To survive the economic trauma caused by the demise of the Soviet Block, the Cuban government enacted economic and social reforms that are causing hardships in the lives of Cubans. This article shows that a synthesis of the theories of Marx and Mead provides a useful perspective for understanding Cubans' critical reflections on daily encounters that contradict abstract revolutionary values. Existing sources and qualitative data show a complex interplay between the abstract values of equality, communalism and nationalism, which have been incorporated into definitions of self, and Cubans' efforts to meet their needs. The results presented suggest that Cubans' incorporation into the self of revolutionary attitudes contributes to their reluctance to reject and criticize the revolutionary regime. For Cubans, the formation and expression of critical responses to the existing social system are all the more difficult because of the striking absence of alternative ideologies.

Key Words: identity • individual agency • Marx • Mead • political culture • social change • values contradiction

Acta Sociologica, Vol. 46, No. 1, 51-68 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0001699303046001004


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