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music, theatre, dance, film and video, and expressions that originate in
religious, folkloric, or other cultural traditions. Civil society as defined
here encompasses the various ways in which people independently
and collectively express themselves in relation to the state, whether in
support or in opposition. Contributors to civil society include the
range of expressions directed toward the public sphere intended to
provoke debate, offer critical commentary on society, promote dia-
logue among groups of citizens, or support the status quo.
Useful for understanding the evolution of civil society in Cuba and
relevant to this analysis are Antonio Gramsci’s ideas on the structure
and terrain of civil society. For Gramsci, civil society encompasses the
spectrum of conflicting social and political forces, and represents not
only the hegemonic realm of the status quo, but also the contested
realm in which cultural change takes place. The political and social
space of civil society narrows when people identify closely with politi-
cal and social institutions (when hegemony prevails), and expands
when this identity is weak. In this way civil society works both to
reproduce the status quo, and serves as a potential agent of transfor-
mation. (Cox, 1999: 5) This dialectical approach characterizes the pro-
cess by which new forms of civil society have taken shape in Cuba in
recent decades
Afro-Cuban Culture and Civil Society
From colonial times to the present Afro-Cuban culture and cultural
production, including religion, music, art, dance, and literature, have
been a central but often submerged or suppressed component of
Cuban civil society. Afro-descended Cubans have carried on a variety
of cultural traditions and developed new cultural expressions that are
popular and form an integral part of Cuban society, even if they are
not uniformly acknowledged as such. In the civil society discussion it
is critical to recognize that these expressions have always existed in
Cuba, but that during many periods throughout Cuba’s history, could
not be manifested in an open public sphere. Despite unfavorable con-