International Distinguished Visiting Scholars Lecture: The Emergence of a New Cuba: Opportunities and Obstacles

Miguel Coyula, Architect and Urban Planner, Group for the Integrated Development of the Capitol, Havana, Cuba; and Dr. Humberto Miranda, Professor, Instituto de Filosofia, Havana, Cuba, and Visiting Assistant Professor, College of Charleston, S. C. The conversation with these two distinguished visiting scholars addresses the period of nuanced experimentation and flexibility by the Cuban government. Intent on upgrading the performance of its economy, the government is equally determined to maintain the integrity of its commitment to socialism. The successor to his brother Fidel, President Raul Castro has allowed the private sector to expand. Meanwhile the state has given ground enabling the public sector to cautiously shrink. Searching for alternatives to neoliberal capitalism and authoritarian socialism, Cuban reformers have begun to advocate for and incentivize greater use of cooperatives as a promising strategy to increase Cuba’s Gross Domestic Production. Unlike private businesses which foster individualism, the reformers view cooperatives in their highest form as self‐owned and managed collectives which bring people together in their daily worklife for the purpose of meeting their economic, social and cultural needs. The extension of cooperatives into housing may provide a strategy for addressing for Havana’s problem with dilapidated housing. While Cubans have high rates of home ownership subsidized by the state, the average house is 75‐85 years old. The absence of subsidies for home repairs places home maintenance costs beyond the ability of most workers