Politics and Civil Society in Cuba

Parameters, Uncertainty and Recognition: The Politics of Culture in Cuba 83

of the past decades, there are fewer intellectuals left. The Cuban Diaspora

and its intellectuals is a different story, of course. But it is hard to see what

role they could play in a negotiated transition (I am assuming here that in

other types of transition, all bets are off). Comparativist Darren Hawkins

was correct when he characterized the “non-transition” in Cuba as resulting

from the absence of clear democratizing agent in the country (Hawkins,

2001).

Artists are not (or not primarily) intellectuals, they do not play a direct

political role and probably will not in a period of transition. And yet, they

may have the last word, because of their sway on culture and mentalities. For

years many have been “touching and engaging Cubans,” as Fernandes con-

cluded, and their questioning of dominant values and organizations (or at

least some of them) will continue to resonate beyond the sound and the fury

of politics (Fernandes, 2006: 153). It would probably be an exaggeration to

call them “heroic.” Most bought into and indeed benefited from the current

system. But in a genuine transition to something new, they would probably

constitute one of the few bridges between the past and the future.

References

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Arrufat, Antón. 1987. "Lanzando un fogonazo," La Gaceta de Cuba (June): 18-19.

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Bobes, Velia Cecilia. 2000. Los laberintos de la imaginación: repertorio simbólico, identidades y

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