Leuchtfeuer in der Karibik: Ein libertäre Betrachtung der kubanischen Revolution (Edition Schwarze Kirschen)

by Sam Dolgoff

Dolgoff's analysis of the Cuban Revolution, its development and significance, presents an historical perspective on Cuba that arrives at new insights into social and political change.

Genres: History, Politics

316 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Dolgoff was born in the shtetl of Ostrovno in Vitebsk, Russia, moving as a child to New York City in 1905 or 1906, where he lived in the Bronx and in Manhattan's Lower East Side where he died. His father was a house painter, and Dolgoff began house painting at the age of 11, a profession he remained in his entire life.
After being expelled from the Young People's Socialist League, Sam joined the Industrial Workers of the World in the 1922 and remained an active member his entire life, playing an active role in the anarchist movement for much of the century. He was a co-founder of the Libertarian Labor Review magazine, which was later renamed Anarcho-Syndicalist Review to avoid confusion with America's Libertarian Party.
Dolgoff was a member of the Chicago Free Society Group in the 1920s, Vanguard Group member and editor of its publication Vanguard: A Journal of Libertarian Communism in the 1930s, and co-founded the Libertarian League in New York in 1954. He wrote articles for anarchist magazines as well as books as the editor of highly-acclaimed anthologies, some of which are listed below. He was active in many causes, and attended groups like New York's Libertarian Book Club regularly.
Dolgoff, and his wife Esther, served as a link to anarchism's past to young anarchists of the 1960s and 1970s living in New York. He focused upon anarchism's (specifically anarcho-syndicalism's) roots in workers' movements and served as a moderating counterbalance to the punk-era anarchists who tended towards 'monkeywrenching' and confrontations with the police. Although Dolgoff was friends with Murray Bookchin, a notable anarchist theorist of the period, he was opposed to Bookchin's theory of Social Ecology, rooted as he was in the classical anarchist traditions of Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

critique of Castro's systematic dismantling of the Cuban Revolution by usurping the self-organized revolutionary efforts of the workers and peasants, taking everything over by the militarized State, and crushing all dissent. i've always thought of the Cuban 'socialist' project as somehow different or better than the Russian, Chinese or other Leninist debacles. this book proves me naive and foolish. all power to the people!

[R. Reddebrek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative account of the history of Cuba including the pre Castro period. A useful book for those interested in Cuba and Latin American labour history.

[ozaga · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book contains interesting information about the revolution and Cuban regime, but is so poorly written that it hurts.

[Pushon Bhattacharya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-sourced critique of the Cuban revolution and the authoritarian government that subsequently took power. The most eye-opening chapters were the early ones which detail the significant role of anarchists in the anti-Batista struggle and the achievement of numerous reforms which improved the working conditions of the general public.

[Tury · Rating 5 out of 5]

An in-depth anarchist analysis into the Cuban revolution. A full critique of the Castro regime from a socialist perspective.

[Giulia]

Livro muito bom e cheio de referências, peca em algumas partes por não dar uma perspectiva tão completa, porém, serve bem para entender partes do movimento anarquista de cuba