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Inside El Barrio: A Bottom-Up View of Neighborhood Life in Castro's Cuba
* Revealing portrait of daily life in Cuba that explores how the socialist system has operated on the ground over the last two decades
* Shows how social networks and neighborhoods were critical in sustaining Fidel’s regime while other socialist countries were collapsing in the late 80s
The abrupt collapse of the Soviet Union and the East European Communist Bloc in 1989 plunged Cuba into a catastrophic economic crisis that spawned unprecedented hardship, magnified social tensions, and emigration in the thousands. In July 1990, a somber Fidel Castro called upon the masses to prepare for a sustained period of hard times.
Inside El Barrio charts the legacy of Fidel Castro through the unique lens of Cuban household life during El Período Especial (the Special Period). Taylor traverses the neighborhoods and residential developments of Havana between 1989 and 2006, the final and most complex period in the "Age of Castro’s Cuba" to uncover the hidden vibrancy of Cuba’s streets and citizens. In doing so, he acquires a deeper understanding of Cuban society by exploring what it means to live in a people-centered nation and the importance of neighborhoods in shaping everyday life and culture.
* Shows how social networks and neighborhoods were critical in sustaining Fidel’s regime while other socialist countries were collapsing in the late 80s
The abrupt collapse of the Soviet Union and the East European Communist Bloc in 1989 plunged Cuba into a catastrophic economic crisis that spawned unprecedented hardship, magnified social tensions, and emigration in the thousands. In July 1990, a somber Fidel Castro called upon the masses to prepare for a sustained period of hard times.
Inside El Barrio charts the legacy of Fidel Castro through the unique lens of Cuban household life during El Período Especial (the Special Period). Taylor traverses the neighborhoods and residential developments of Havana between 1989 and 2006, the final and most complex period in the "Age of Castro’s Cuba" to uncover the hidden vibrancy of Cuba’s streets and citizens. In doing so, he acquires a deeper understanding of Cuban society by exploring what it means to live in a people-centered nation and the importance of neighborhoods in shaping everyday life and culture.
240 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2009
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December 12, 2011
"Someone once asked me to explain Cuba. After thinking about it, I responded that it's difficult to explain something so complicated. Cubans themselves don't even understand Cuba fully: we simply live it. In this important book, Taylor attempts to bring this complex society to light by examining its social structures. He opens with his experience as a foreigner encountering a society that hides its substance (the system of principles, the relationship between institutions and individuals, class, race and rights) from outsiders. Eventually, his proximity to the people allowed him to experience Cuban society 'from within'. He discovers that there are two Cubas: one for outsiders, and another for Cubans. The two societies live parallel in harmony but seldom mix, at least in any profound way. This book attempts to break that barrier, and in the process paints a very interesting and praiseworthy picture of a society and its inhabitants."
- Elio Rodriguez, visual artist
- Elio Rodriguez, visual artist
Displaying 1 of 1 review