Cuba's Digital Revolution
Citizen Innovation and State Policy
Published on 30. June 2021
Book
Hardback
348 pages
978-1-68340-202-2 (ISBN)
Description
The triumph of the Cuban Revolution gave the Communist Party a monopoly over both politics and the mass media. However, with the subsequent global proliferation of new information and communication technologies, Cuban citizens have become active participants in the worldwide digital revolution. While the Cuban internet has long been characterized by censorship, high costs, slow speeds, and limited access, this volume argues that since 2013, technological developments have allowed for a fundamental reconfiguration of the cultural, economic, social, and political spheres of the Revolutionary project.The essays in this volume cover various transformations within this new digital revolution, examining both government-enabled paid public web access as well as creative workarounds that Cubans have designed to independently produce, distribute, and access digital content. Contributors trace how media ventures, entrepreneurship, online marketing, journalism, and cultural e-zines have been developing on the island alongside global technological and geopolitical changes.
As Cuba continues to expand internet access and as citizens challenge state policies on the speed, breadth, and freedom of that access, Cuba's Digital Revolution provides a fascinating example of the impact of technology in authoritarian states and transitional democracies. While the streets of Cuba may still belong to Castro's Revolution, this volume argues, it is still unclear to whom Cuban cyberspace belongs.
As Cuba continues to expand internet access and as citizens challenge state policies on the speed, breadth, and freedom of that access, Cuba's Digital Revolution provides a fascinating example of the impact of technology in authoritarian states and transitional democracies. While the streets of Cuba may still belong to Castro's Revolution, this volume argues, it is still unclear to whom Cuban cyberspace belongs.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Florida
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
22 b&w illustrations, 2 tables
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
751 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-68340-202-2 (9781683402022)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2022
1st Edition
University of Florida Press
€21.49
Available for download
Persons
Ted A. Henken, associate professor of sociology and Latin American studies at Baruch College, City University of New York, is coauthor of Entrepreneurial Cuba: The Changing Policy Landscape and the author of Cuba: A Global Studies Handbook.
Sara Garcia Santamaria, associate professor of global communication at Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, is coeditor of Media and Governance in Latin America: Towards a Plurality of Voices.
Sara Garcia Santamaria, associate professor of global communication at Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, is coeditor of Media and Governance in Latin America: Towards a Plurality of Voices.
Content
List of Figures
List of Tables
Introduction. In Medias Res: Who Will Control Cuba's Digital Revolution?
PART I. History, Media, and Technology
1. The Past, Present, and Future of the Cuban Internet
2. Historical Itineraries and Cyclic Trajectories: Alternative Media, Communication Technologies, and Social Change in Cuba
PART II. Politics
3. ICT, State Power, and Civil Society: Cuban Internet Development in the Context of the Normalization of Relations with the United States
4. Ghost in the Machine: The Incompatibility of Cuba's State Media Monopoly with the Existence of Independent Digital Media and the Democratization of Communication
5. The Press Model in Cuba: Between Ideological Hegemony and the Reinvention of Civic Journalism
6. Digital Critique in Cuba
PART III. Journalism
7. From Generacion Y to 14ymedio: Beyond the Blog on Cuba's Digital Frontier
8. Independent Journalism in Cuba: Between Fantasy and the Ontological Rupture
9. Perceptions of and Strategies for Autonomy among Journalists Working for Cuban State Media
10. Independent Media on the Margins: Two Cases of Journalistic Professionalization in Cuba's Digital Media Ecosystem
PART IV. Business and Economy
11. Online Marketing of Touristic Cuba: Branding a "Tech-Free" Destination
12. "A Una Cuba Alternativa"? Digital Millennials, Social Influencing, and Cuentapropismo in Havana
PART V. Culture and Society
13. Without Initiation Ceremonies: Cuban Literary and Cultural Ezines
14. Images of Ourselves: Cuban Mediascapes and the Postsocialist "Woman of Fashion"
Notes
List of Contributors
Index
List of Tables
Introduction. In Medias Res: Who Will Control Cuba's Digital Revolution?
PART I. History, Media, and Technology
1. The Past, Present, and Future of the Cuban Internet
2. Historical Itineraries and Cyclic Trajectories: Alternative Media, Communication Technologies, and Social Change in Cuba
PART II. Politics
3. ICT, State Power, and Civil Society: Cuban Internet Development in the Context of the Normalization of Relations with the United States
4. Ghost in the Machine: The Incompatibility of Cuba's State Media Monopoly with the Existence of Independent Digital Media and the Democratization of Communication
5. The Press Model in Cuba: Between Ideological Hegemony and the Reinvention of Civic Journalism
6. Digital Critique in Cuba
PART III. Journalism
7. From Generacion Y to 14ymedio: Beyond the Blog on Cuba's Digital Frontier
8. Independent Journalism in Cuba: Between Fantasy and the Ontological Rupture
9. Perceptions of and Strategies for Autonomy among Journalists Working for Cuban State Media
10. Independent Media on the Margins: Two Cases of Journalistic Professionalization in Cuba's Digital Media Ecosystem
PART IV. Business and Economy
11. Online Marketing of Touristic Cuba: Branding a "Tech-Free" Destination
12. "A Una Cuba Alternativa"? Digital Millennials, Social Influencing, and Cuentapropismo in Havana
PART V. Culture and Society
13. Without Initiation Ceremonies: Cuban Literary and Cultural Ezines
14. Images of Ourselves: Cuban Mediascapes and the Postsocialist "Woman of Fashion"
Notes
List of Contributors
Index