What “good family”? Assistance and family solidarity in Cuba
Keywords:
Social welfare, Family, Care, Old ageAbstract
Reinforcing social welfare and intervention in Cuba responds to the social effects of the economic crisis and structural transformations, rather than aiming at alleviating poverty. This paper examines social intervention practices in the light of the family norms underlying it: what “good family” are they advocating? How do social assistance and intervention address weakened family structures, when the contradiction sharpens between individualization and equality, on the one hand, and need for family and solidarity, on the other? We shall see that social assistance in Cuba has moved beyond a time of principles, to a pragmatic time of social issues containment, which places a heavy burden on the family. Reinforcing social welfare and intervention in Cuba responds to the social effects of the economic crisis and structural transformations, rather than aiming at alleviating poverty. This paper examines social intervention practices in the light of the family norms underlying it: what “good family” are they advocating? How do social assistance and intervention address weakened family structures, when the contradiction sharpens between individualization and equality, on the one hand, and need for family and solidarity, on the other? We shall see that social assistance in Cuba has moved beyond a time of principles, to a pragmatic time of social issues containment, which places a heavy burden on the family.
Downloads
References
ALMODÓVAR, Magela Romero. Repensar el trabajo doméstico no remunerado a tiempo completo en la Cuba contemporânea. Cuban Studies, v. 42, p. 78-96, 2011.
ÁLVAREZ, Mayda. La familia cubana: políticas públicas y cambios socio- demográficos,
económicos y de género. In: Cambio de las familias en el marco de las transformaciones globales:
necesidad de políticas públicas eficaces. CEPAL, 2004. p. 305-334. (Serie Seminarios y
conferencias, n. 42). Disponível em:
Parte2.pdf>. Acesso em: abr. 2014.
Arés MUZIO, Patricia; BENÍTEZ PÉREZ, María Elena. Familia cubana: nuevos retos y desafios
a la politica social, La Havane. IPS CUBA, Enfoques, n. 21, 2009. Disponível em:
cubaalamano.net>. Acesso em: abr. 2014.
BEC, Colette; PROCACCI, Giovanna (Dir.). De la responsabilité solidaire. Mutations dans les
politiques sociales d’aujourd’hui. Paris: Syllepse, in-8, 2003.
BECK, Ulrich. Risk society. Towards a new modernity. London: Sage Publications, 1992.
BESSIN, Marc. La présence sociale auprès des personnes en difficultés: enjeux temporels et sexués. Paris, 2010. Disponível em: <http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00612746>. Acesso em: abr. 2014.
BORGEAUD-GARCIANDIA, Natacha; LAUTIER Bruno; PEÑAFIEL, Ricardo; TIZZIANI, Ania. (Dir.). Penser le politique en Amérique latine: la recréation des espaces et des formes du politique. Paris: Karthala, 2009. p. 19-36.
BOURDIEU, Pierre. A propos de la famille comme catégorie réalisée. Actes de la Recherche en
Sciences Sociales, n. 100, p. 32-36, 1993.
CASTEL, Robert. La gestion des risques: de l’anti-psychiatrie à l’après-psychanalyse. Paris: Éditions de Minuit, 1981.
CATASÚS CERVERA, Sonia I. La population de Cuba: principales caractéristiques et tendances
démographiques. Paris, 1996. (Les dossiers du CEPED, n. 39).
CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS DE POBLACIÓN Y DESARROLLO. El estado actual y perspectivo de la población cubana: un reto para el desarrollo territorial sostenible – informe resumen de
proyecto de investigación. Habana: Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas, 2008. Disponível
em: <http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/estadoactual/El%20estado%20actual%20y%20
perspectivo%20de%20la%20población%20cubana%20Un%20reto%20para%20el%20desarrollo%20 territorial%20sostenible.pdf>. Acesso em: jun. 2014.
COJIMAR, Julia. Les Vàsquez: une économie familiale à la Havane. In: BLOCH, Vincent;
LETRILLARD, Philippe (Coord.). Cuba, un régime au quotidien. Paris: Choiseul, 2011. p. 63-81.
DESTREMAU, Blandine. L’extension du marché à Cuba: une “grande transformation”?. In:
SERVET J.-M. (dir.). Comprendre autrement le marché. Marchés réels et marché fantasmé. Paris : Classiques Garnier, , à paraître en 2014. (collection Ecrits sur l’Economie).
DIAZ-BRIQUETS, Sergio; PEREZ, Lisandro. Fertility decline in Cuba: a socioeconomic
interpretation. Population and Development Review, v. 8, n. 3, p. 513-537, Sept. 1982.
DONZELOT, Jacques. La police des familles. Paris: Éditions de Minuit, 1977.
DURÁN, Alberta. Transformaciones sociales y familia en Cuba: desafìos para las politicas sociales. Habana, 2009. (Cuadernos del CIPS).
ESPINA PRIETO, Mayra. Polìticas de atenciòn a la probreza y la desigualdade. Habana: CLACSO, 2008. (Colecciòn CLACSO-CROP). Disponível em: . Acesso em: abr. 2014.
ESPÍN, Vilma. La familia en el socialismo: intervenciòn en la reuniòn de dirigentes femeninas
de paises socialistas. In: ESPÍN, Vilma. La mujer en Cuba, familia y sociedad: discursos, entrevistas documentos. Habana: Imprenta Central de las FAR, 1990. p. 225-245.
ESPING-ANDERSEN, Gøsta. The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press;
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
FLEITAS RUIZ, Reina. La polìtica social y la familia en Cuba: familias monoparentales. In: FLEITAS RUIZ, Reina (Dir.). Selecciòn de lecturas de sociologìa y polìtica social de la família. Habana: Editorial Felix Varela, 2005. p. 339-362.
FLEITES-LEAR, Marisela. Paradojas de la mujer cubana. Nueva Sociedad, n. 143, Mayo/Jun. 1996,
p. 41-55.
FRANCO SUÁREZ, Maria del Carmen; ALFONSO, Alina. El perfil sociodemografico de los hogares cubanos: analisis por territorios. Habana: Office national des statistiques. Centro de Estudios de Población y Desarrollo, 2008. (Cuadernos de Estudios de Población y Desarrollo.
Hogares Cubanos, n. 3). Disponível em: <http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/cuaderno/
Articulo%203.pdf>. Acesso em: abr. 2014.
FRASER, Nancy; GORDON, Linda. A genealogy of dependency: tracing a keyword of the U.S.
Welfare State. Signs, v. 19, n. 2, p. 309-336, 1994.
GEREMEK, Bronislaw. La potence ou la pitié: l’Europe et les pauvres du Moyen Âge à nos jours.
Paris: Gallimard, 1987. (nouvelle publication 2010).
HARDING, Lorraine Fox. Family, State and social policy. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996.
KING, Marjorie. Cuba’s attack on women’s second shift 1974-1976. Latin American Perspectives,
v. 4, n. 1-2, p. 106-119, 1977.
LAUTIER, Bruno. Gouvernement moral des pauvres et dépolitisation des politiques publiques
en Amérique Latine. Revue Tiers Monde, n. 214, p. 169-186, 2013.
LEWIS, Jane. Gender and the development of welfare regimes. Journal of European Social Policy, v. 2, n. 3, p. 159-173, 1992.
LUTJENS, Sheryl L. Reading between the lines: women, the state and rectification in Cuba.
Latin American Perspectives, v. 22, n. 2, p. 100-124, 1995.
MANSSON, Sven-Axel, PROVEYER CERVANTES, Clotilde (Ed.). Trabajo social en Suecia y Cuba. Desarrollo y perspectivas. Sancti Spiritus, Cuba: Editorial Arcadia, 2004.
MESA-LAGO, Carmelo. Social and economic policy in Cuba: a model of integral development
for Latin America? Real Instituto Elcano de Etudios Internacionales y Estratégicos, 2006. (Area:
Latin America – ARI, n. 148/2005).
MESA-LAGO, Carmelo.. Growing economic and social disparities in Cuba: impact and recommendations for change. University of Miami: Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, 2002. (Cuba Transition Project). Disponível em: <http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/Research_Studies/CMesaLago.pdf>. Acesso em: abr. 2014. PECIÑA, Martha. Les femmes cubaines à l’épreuve de la crise économique. Cahiers d’Amériques latine, n. 57-58, p. 159-172, 2009.
PROCACCI, Giovanna. Gouverner la misère: la question sociale en France (1789-1848). Paris: Seuil, 1993. (Collection L´univers Historique)
RAUBER, Isabel; BONILLA, Lisandro. Cayo Hueso, estampas del barrio. Buenos Aires: Passado y Presente XXI, 2010.
SAFA, Helen. The myth of the male breadwinner: women and industrialization in the Caribbean.
Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1995.
SAFA, Helen.. The matrifocal family and patriarchal ideology in Cuba and the Caribbean. Journal of Latin American Anthropology, v. 10, n. 2, p. 314-338, 2005.
SCARPACI, Joseph L. Winners and losers in restoring old Havana. In: PÉREZ LÓPEZ, J.; ALONSO, J. F. (Ed.). Cuba in Transition, v. 10, Washington, D.C.: Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, 2000, p. 289-299.
SEGALEN, Martine. Sociologie de la famille. Paris: Armand Colin, 1981.
STRUG, David. Community-oriented social work in Cuba: government response to emerging
social problems. Social Work Education, v. 25, n. 7, p. 749-762, Oct. 2006.
TABIN, Jean-Pierre; Frauenfelder , Arnaud; Togni, Carola; Keller, Véréna. Temps
d’assistance. Le gouvernement des pauvres en Suisse romande depuis la fin du XIXe siècle.
Lausanne: Antipodes, 2008. (Collection Existences et société).
TITMUSS, Richard. M. Social policy, London: Allen and Unwin, 1974.
URIARTE-GASTON, Miren. Social policy responses to Cuba’s economic crisis of the 1990s.
Cuban Studies, v. 35, p. 105-136, 2004.
VERA ESTRADA, Ana; DIAZ CANALS, Teresa. Family, marriage and households in Cuba. In:
Hennon, Ch. B.; Wilson, S. M. (Ed.). Families in a global context. New York: Routledge, 2008,
p. 465-491.
WEBER, Florence. Qu’est-ce que la protection rapprochée? Réciprocité, solidarité quotidienne
et affiliation symbolique. In: Paugam , Serge (Coord.). Repenser la solidarité. L’apport des sciences sociales. Paris: PUF, 2007, p. 187-204.
WEHRLI, Angelica. ¡No es fácil! Facing daily challenges in Havana, Cuba. Autrepart. Revue
de sciences sociales au Sud: Les mondes post-communistes. Quels capitalismes? Quelles sociétés? Paris: Armand Colin. IRD. n. 48, p. 73-86, 2008.
WEHRLI, Angelica. Ama de Casa. A hidden form of entrepreneurial success?: re-challenging
gendered roles. International Journal of Cuban Studies, v. 2, n. 3-4, p. 104–16, 2010.
WILLIAMS, Fiona J. Social policy: a critical introduction. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1989.
ZABALA ARGÜELLES, Maria del Carmen. Familia y pobreza en Cuba: estudio de casos. La Habana: Centro Felix Varela, 2010.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
a. Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right to first publication, with the paper simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution license that allows the sharing of the paper with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
b. Authors are authorized to assume additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the paper published in this journal (for example publishing in institutional repository or as a book chapter), with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
c. Authors are allowed and encouraged to publish and distribute their paper on-line (for example in institutional repositories or on their personal page) at any moment before or during the editorial process, as this can generate productive changes, as well as increase the impact and citation of the published paper (See The Effect of Open Access).
