The Cuban Revolution As Socialist Human Development - 9789004210431

Veltmeyer, (development studies, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas) and Rushton, a freelance consultant and former student in Veltmeyer's department, study the Cuban socialist revolution in the context of capitalist reform movements that stress "human development" especially in terms of economic freedom and growth. They argue that Cuba has broken many expectations by human development experts -- in terms of health-care and education -- by taking a socialist approach to human development that is not "based an individualistic social liberal view of humanity and society. Their study involves three parts: the deconstruction of human development as capitalist reform, the reconstruction of human development as socialist humanist project, and Cuba's challenges as "a socialist island in a sea of capitalism". They argue that capitalism can't provide the systemic requirements for human development -- in terms of equality, freedom and solidarity -- and that by looking the Cuban revolution we see how socialism at once clarifies and provides them. To that end, they stress the collective self-empowerment and egalitarian aspects of socialist human development. Their analysis is thoroughly Marxist, and written for those interested in international human development and political activists alike. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)