This study will seek to understand the dynamics of the Cuban upper class as a central factor in the origins of the 1959 revolution. Upper class failure to coalesce class alliances, direct state policies, and define relations with the United States is a much neglected dimension of how radical revolution was possible in Cuba. The study of Cuba has been largely marginal to the literatures on Latin America development and revolutions. It is hoped to integrate Cuba into these literatures by focusing on the Cuban upper class and society before 1959. The study will be delimited by 1868 and 1960 for two reasons. The struggle for national independence is central to the Cuban historical experience and the first war against Spain began in 1868. The sugar industry is likewise central to Cuban development and its more capital-intensive transformation occurred after 1868. How the upper class (sugar and non-sugar) related to other classes, the state, and economic development is crucial for the processes of class formation and state-building before 1959. The origins of the revolution need to be placed within the dynamics of the society that failed to sustain capitalism--not in some notion of "betrayal" by Fidel Castro once in power. The study will be closed in 1960 when the old order unraveled. The study will examine one country in Latin America that has served as a model of development, both theoretically within the dependency literature and empirically with the high quality- of-life indicators, and contribute to understanding of how social class coalitions and state interventions interact to produce eventual revolutionary outcomes. Results will be used by those trying to synthesize and reconstruct explanations of Third World (and particularly Latin American) order and breakdown politically. The project furthers VPW program objectives to provide opportunities for women to advance their careers in science or engineering through research, and to encourage other women to pursue careers in these areas through the investigators' enhanced visibility as role models on the host campuses. In this project, the proposed activities which contribute to the second objective include: teaching a seminar on Latin America revolutions (Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua); attending two advance research seminars (on Latin American and state formation and collective action); and coordinating the monthly Latin American colloquium at the Center for Studies of Social Change.
