The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life

In The Cuban Hustle, Sujatha Fernandes explores the multitudinous ways artists, activists, and ordinary Cubans have hustled to survive and express themselves in the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse. Whether circulating information on flash drives as a substitute for the internet or building homemade antennas to listen to Miami's hip hop radio stations, Cubans improvise alternative strategies and workarounds to contend with ongoing isolation. Throughout these essays, Fernandes examines the emergence of dynamic youth cultures and social movements as Cuba grappled with economic collapse, new digital technologies, the normalization of diplomatic ties with the United States during the Obama administration, and the regression of US-Cuban relations in the Trump era. From reflections on feminism, new Cuban cinema, and public art to urban slums, the Afro-Cuban movement, and rumba and hip hop, Fernandes reveals Cuba to be a world of vibrant cultures grounded in an ethos of invention and everyday hustle.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments  ix Introduction  1 Part I. Cultures of the Special Period 1. Revolution and Rumba: Cuba in the Special Period  9 2. Alice in Wondertown: Interview with Filmmaker Daniel DÍaz Torres  15 3. MagÍn: Feminist Organizing in Cuba  22 4. Vitality in Precarious Conditions: Conversation with Artist/Art Critic Tonel  32 5. Public Art and Art Collectives in Havana  44 6. New Cuban Cinema: Race and Sexuality  53 7. The Capital of Rap: Hip Hop Culture in Alamar  62 8. Cultural Cimarronaje: Afro-Cuban Visual Arts  71 9. Elio RodrÍguez: Of Joint Ventures and Sexual Adventures  77 Part II. Normalization: Netflix Meets the Weekly Packet 10. Cuban Rap: Where the Streets Meet Highbrow Art  87 11. Why USAID Could Never Spark a Hip Hop Revolution in Cuba  90 12. Stories that Resonate: New Cultures of Documentary Filmmaking in Cuba (With Alexandra Hakin)  94 13. What Do Cubans Think of Normalization with the United States?  100 14. The Repeating Barrio  104 15. In Cuba, Will the Revolution Be Digitized?  111 16. Afro-Cuban Activists Fight Racism between Two Fires  120 17. Black Diasporic Dialogues in Post-Soviet Cuba  129 18. The Many Shades of Fidel Castro  133 Part III. Cuban Futures and the Trump Era 19. The Cold War Politics of Donald Trump  139 20. Hairdressers of the World, Unite! (You Have Nothing to Lose but Your Locks . . . and a Community to Win)  143 21. How Socially Engaged Activism Is Transforming Cuba  152 22. A Ship Adrift: Cuba after the Pink Tide  162 Epilogue  167

About the Author :
Sujatha Fernandes is Professor of Political Economy and Sociology at the University of Sydney and author of Cuba Represent!: Cuban Arts, State Power, and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures and Who Can Stop the Drums?: Urban Social Movements in ChÁvez's Venezuela both also published by Duke University Press, and most recently of Curated Stories: The Uses and Misuses of Storytelling.

Review :
“A fascinating dossier about the challenges and preoccupations of post-Soviet Cuba. From negotiating the fallout from a globalizing economy to new movements in the visual arts, music, film, feminism, and racial consciousness, Sujatha Fernandes brings readers up to date on the inventive, evolving hustle that is Cuba's survival.” - Cristina García, author of (Here in Berlin: A Novel) “In a complex and nuanced way, Sujatha Fernandes describes Cuba's most recent two decades, focusing on subjects that have not been written about in this much detail. She contributes to a new understanding of present-day Cuba-and its many fascinating idiosyncrasies, tensions, and creative solutions to complicated problems-in an engaging and politically sophisticated style that general readers will enjoy.” - Margaret Randall, author of (I Never Left Home: Poet, Feminist, Revolutionary) “For any reader who is curious about the embodiment of Cuban life over the past two decades, Fernandes skillfully provides lucid accounts of ordinary Cubans, who, through pure resourcefulness and innovation, and in times of chaos, work relentlessly to find strategies for survival, in ways that are meaningful and artistically expressive…. The Cuban Hustle provides a necessary contribution to the Cuban diaspora literature; the accounts are timely, and deliver a contemporary understanding of Cuba, and the hardships faced by so many since the collapse of the Soviet Union.” - Mauricia John (Ethnic and Racial Studies) "The greatest value of the text is in revealing the complexity of Cuban culture and the creativity of Cubans in challenging the outdated stereotypes that may persist in a communist nation. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students and faculty." - J. A. Baer (Choice) “In The Cuban Hustle, Sujatha Fernandes explores Cuban creativity in the decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union.... The essays pay particularly close attention to issues of race, gender, and sexuality, which are examined through the lens of Cuba’s vibrant and incredibly diverse artistic terrain.” - Rubrick Biegon (Latin American Politics and Society) “The Cuban Hustle is a fascinating take on the evolution of Cuban art, culture, and everyday life which spans more than 20 years.... The book is enjoyable and accessible for readers of different ages and educational backgrounds.” - Esther Hernández-Medina (Social Forces) “The originality and pertinence of [The Cuban Hustle] lies precisely in the fact that the reader is led to examine lesser-studied topics, social and cultural actors, often on a microlevel. . . . We can also appreciate the author’s balanced approach, which invites us to ‘understand Cuba on its own terms.’” - Catia Dignard (Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies) “Fernandes’s ethnographic descriptions are enthralling and provide readers with a true sense of what it is like to begin to see Cuba as Cubans see it. . . . The Cuban Hustle provides an insightful overview of post-Soviet Cuban life.” - William Kelly (New West Indian Guide)