Synopses & Reviews
Cuba's first republican era (1902–1959) is principally understood in terms of its failures and discontinuities, typically depicted as an illegitimate period in the nation's history, its first three decades and the overthrow of Machado at best a prologue to the "real" revolution of 1959.
State of Ambiguity brings together scholars from North America, Cuba, and Spain to challenge this narrative, presenting republican Cuba instead as a time of meaningful engagement—socially, politically, and symbolically. Addressing a wide range of topics—civic clubs and folkloric societies, science, public health and agrarian policies, popular culture, national memory, and the intersection of race and labor—the contributors explore how a broad spectrum of Cubans embraced a political and civic culture of national self-realization. Together, the essays in
State of Ambiguity recast the first republic as a time of deep continuity in processes of liberal state- and nation-building that were periodically disrupted—but also reinvigorated—by foreign intervention and profound uncertainty.
Contributors. Imilcy Balboa Navarro, Alejandra Bronfman, Maikel Fariñas Borrego, Reinaldo Funes Monzote, Marial Iglesias Utset, Steven Palmer, José Antonio Piqueras Arenas, Ricardo Quiza Moreno, Amparo Sánchez Cobos, Rebecca J. Scott, Robert Whitney
Review
"State of Ambiguity challenges dominant visions of Cuban history in the first three decades after independence. Much of the U.S. and the post-1959 Cuban historiography has been dominated by concerns with the imperial ties between Cuba and its northern neighbor. The distinguished contributors to this collection break with that obsession, providing refreshing perspectives and exploring dimensions of Cuban history that have been largely neglected to date." Barry Carr, Institute for Latin American Studies, La Trobe University
Review
"Until now, the early republican period of Cuban history has been remarkably understudied. State of Ambiguity fills the gap. Most of the essays engage aspects of Cuba's early republican era that have rarely been written about before, in Spanish or in English. The highly original essays bring history alive, moving through the local streets and cane fields while never losing sight of the national and international contexts and comparisons." Gillian McGillivray, author of Blazing Cane: Sugar Communities, Class, and State Formation in Cuba, 1868-1959
About the Author
Steven Palmer is Canada Research Chair in History of International Health and Associate Professor at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. He is the author of
From Popular Medicine to Medical Populism: Doctors, Healers, and Public Power in Costa Rica, 1800–1940 and coeditor (with Iván Molina) of
The Costa Rica Reader: History, Culture, Politics, both also published by Duke University Press.
José Antonio Piqueras is Chair of Contemporary History at Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, Spain. He is the author of several books on Cuban and Caribbean history, including Trabajo libre y coactivo en sociedades de plantación.
Amparo Sánchez Cobos is Assistant Professor of History at Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, Spain, and the author of Sembrando ideales. Anarquistas españoles en Cuba.