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Cuba Since the Revolution of 1959: A Critical Assessment
Uncritically lauded by the left and impulsively denounced by the right, the Cuban Revolution is almost universally viewed one dimensionally. Farber, one of its most informed left-wing critics, provides a much-needed critical assessment of the revolutions impact and legacy.
400 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 6, 2026
Enjoyed this book. I knew nothing about Cuba or Fidel.
Fascinating relevant book.
90 miles off the coast of Florida. A different world.
Fascinating relevant book.
90 miles off the coast of Florida. A different world.
January 10, 2026
a comprehensive survey of cuba since the revolution from an unapologetically marxist perspective. a major theme of the book is farber's stress on the necessity of 'socialist democracy', of a proper democratic self-management of workers from below. this stands in contrast to the cuban state, which he convincingly describes as the class rule of a bureaucracy. farber shows this bureaucracy has little interest in any serious form of popular control at any level of society, beyond the largely symbolic elections and 'consultations', which farber describes as a 'nationwide suggestion-and-complaint box'.
throughout the book, farber argues against not only the right-wing critics of the cuban government, but also many on the left who apologise for the cuban government. there is hope though - i found the sections talking about the (very small) groups of left-wing dissidents great and it demonstrates that wherever there is oppression, there will be people fighting against it. very much worth a read if one is interested in a critical take on the cuban government.
throughout the book, farber argues against not only the right-wing critics of the cuban government, but also many on the left who apologise for the cuban government. there is hope though - i found the sections talking about the (very small) groups of left-wing dissidents great and it demonstrates that wherever there is oppression, there will be people fighting against it. very much worth a read if one is interested in a critical take on the cuban government.
December 14, 2024
REVIEW OF CHAPTER 1
I´ve only read 1 chapter of this book. But I`m going to put it down as "read".
Farber gives a largely blow by blow account of how Castro and the CCP amassed power from 1959. For 50 pages Farber gives a useful summary of how Cuba became an authoritarian state. He gives a brief overview of the Cuban state, its laws, the history of cultural repression, political repression, the treatment of political and common prisoners, and the extent of "formal" democracy in Cuba. He ends with a treatment of the relative political and cultural liberalisation of Cuba in the 90s. He concludes by tackling the views of people who apologise for Cuba´s authoritarianism and lack of democracy and comparing Cuba to the Russian Revolution and French Revolution.
Overall, I came away from this very much convinced that whatever merits Cuba may have, it is certainly not socialist by any stretch of the imagination. And moreover, that it has a long history of repression against gays, black people, and political dissidents and reformers. It was also clear that even from the early days its cultural and political repression was also targeted against literature, music and individuals who were largely sympathetic to Cuba (e.g. hippie culture, for a limited time a ban of certain Chinese literature, as well as politicians very close to the USSR). He also gives quite a convincing response to those who argue that the level of authoritarianism and lack of democracy in Cuba is necessary as political defence against the imperialism of the US. The level and extent of repression was way beyond what was necessary to simply "guard against" US imperialism and point much more to Castro and the bureaucracy of the Cuban Communist Party (CCP) simply seeking to control Cuban society at all levels for the sake of control. Nevertheless, I was already quite persuaded of this to begin with. How convincing this first chapter for full on fans of the Cuban state is, I don´t know.
While it was a good intro and succinct given it is 50 pages, it definitely lacked any back and forth between sympathetic arguments for the Cuban and Farbers own critical assessment. In that sense it lacked depth. Again, Farber compares the Cuban Revolution with other revolutions but the treatment is quite sparse.
The remaining 6 chapters look at Cubas economic development and standard of living; Cubas foreign policy; the state of cubas working class; treatment of black people in Cuba; treatment of women and gender politics; and finally treatment of political dissidents from both the left and right.
I´ve only read 1 chapter of this book. But I`m going to put it down as "read".
Farber gives a largely blow by blow account of how Castro and the CCP amassed power from 1959. For 50 pages Farber gives a useful summary of how Cuba became an authoritarian state. He gives a brief overview of the Cuban state, its laws, the history of cultural repression, political repression, the treatment of political and common prisoners, and the extent of "formal" democracy in Cuba. He ends with a treatment of the relative political and cultural liberalisation of Cuba in the 90s. He concludes by tackling the views of people who apologise for Cuba´s authoritarianism and lack of democracy and comparing Cuba to the Russian Revolution and French Revolution.
Overall, I came away from this very much convinced that whatever merits Cuba may have, it is certainly not socialist by any stretch of the imagination. And moreover, that it has a long history of repression against gays, black people, and political dissidents and reformers. It was also clear that even from the early days its cultural and political repression was also targeted against literature, music and individuals who were largely sympathetic to Cuba (e.g. hippie culture, for a limited time a ban of certain Chinese literature, as well as politicians very close to the USSR). He also gives quite a convincing response to those who argue that the level of authoritarianism and lack of democracy in Cuba is necessary as political defence against the imperialism of the US. The level and extent of repression was way beyond what was necessary to simply "guard against" US imperialism and point much more to Castro and the bureaucracy of the Cuban Communist Party (CCP) simply seeking to control Cuban society at all levels for the sake of control. Nevertheless, I was already quite persuaded of this to begin with. How convincing this first chapter for full on fans of the Cuban state is, I don´t know.
While it was a good intro and succinct given it is 50 pages, it definitely lacked any back and forth between sympathetic arguments for the Cuban and Farbers own critical assessment. In that sense it lacked depth. Again, Farber compares the Cuban Revolution with other revolutions but the treatment is quite sparse.
The remaining 6 chapters look at Cubas economic development and standard of living; Cubas foreign policy; the state of cubas working class; treatment of black people in Cuba; treatment of women and gender politics; and finally treatment of political dissidents from both the left and right.
December 25, 2022
Samuel Farber, an old-school libertarian socialist, acknowledges Cuba’s modest strides in human development and reluctantly credits the Castros for asserting Cuban independence in the face of American imperialism. But his overall assessment of Communist Cuba is very, very poor. Farber’s post-revolutionary Cuba is one marked by severe economic mismanagement, political authoritarianism and corruption, and a suffocated civil society.
Farber rigorously analyzes Cuba’s failure in the aforementioned areas and more. It’s highly informative, but a bit of a slog. The chapters about Castro’s botched command economy were particularly difficult, at once overly technical and strangely unspecific.
On the other hand, the chapter about race was terrific, detailing the regime’s complex attitudes toward the plight of Afro-Cubans and the persistence of racial inequalities in contemporary Cuba. I also enjoyed the chapter about the regime’s opponents, be they right-wing Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County or Catholic clergy on the island. Farber not only details how the government forcefully represses dissidents, but also argues, rather convincingly, why such critics of the regime are necessary.
Farber rigorously analyzes Cuba’s failure in the aforementioned areas and more. It’s highly informative, but a bit of a slog. The chapters about Castro’s botched command economy were particularly difficult, at once overly technical and strangely unspecific.
On the other hand, the chapter about race was terrific, detailing the regime’s complex attitudes toward the plight of Afro-Cubans and the persistence of racial inequalities in contemporary Cuba. I also enjoyed the chapter about the regime’s opponents, be they right-wing Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County or Catholic clergy on the island. Farber not only details how the government forcefully represses dissidents, but also argues, rather convincingly, why such critics of the regime are necessary.
March 30, 2013
I really enjoyed reading Farber's book. One of the most well-informed and astute analysts of Castro's Cuba, Farber writes from what he describes as "the classical Marxist tradition that preceded Stalinism in the USSR." In the intro, Faber says he will concentrate on "those questions that I believe have been subject to a great deal of mythmaking, fallacies, and misunderstandings..." So there is a polemical quality to this books which makes it delightful reading.
Farber's book has won endorsements from leading academics such as Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Jorge Dominguez, and Adolfo Gilly. It has also received in-depth coverage from Havana Times, and has been favorably reviewed by Pablo Velasco and Sacha Ismail at Workers' Liberty and Charles Post at New Politics.
Cuba Since the Revolution of 1959: A Critical Assessment
Farber's book has won endorsements from leading academics such as Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Jorge Dominguez, and Adolfo Gilly. It has also received in-depth coverage from Havana Times, and has been favorably reviewed by Pablo Velasco and Sacha Ismail at Workers' Liberty and Charles Post at New Politics.
Cuba Since the Revolution of 1959: A Critical Assessment
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews