The Cuban Revolution and the New Left

Understanding overlooked dimensions of the Cuban Revolution and its impact on the global left in the 1960s and beyond



This volume reconsiders revolutionary Cuba’s global influence by shifting
the focus from high-level political leaders to perspectives
traditionally sidelined, offering new insights into how everyday lives,
family dynamics, and notions of gender and sexuality impacted
revolutionary transformation. Its expansive scope uncovers ties between
Cuba and Latin America, the United States, Africa, and Asia, examining
the interplay of global forces including new models of mass consumption, feminist and LGBTQ+ movements, and national liberation struggles.



Chapters include analyses of Chinese reinterpretations of a Cuban play, Angela
Davis’s influential visits to the island, Cuba’s complex relations with
Black militants in Angola, and a Mexican transgender and disability
activist who reimagined Che Guevara’s legacy. They also present research on Cuba’s solidarity campaigns with Vietnam, foreign journalists who
covered the revolution, the role of consumption and fashion, and the
lasting impact of the revolution’s refugee policies on exiled children
and families from the Southern Cone.



Through its
interdisciplinary sociocultural approach, this volume challenges
conventional top-down narratives by foregrounding the interplay between
grassroots actors and transnational affairs. It is an essential resource for scholars, students, and anyone interested in the multilayered
stages of the Cuban Revolution and its continued relationship with
global politics and culture.



A volume in the series Caribbean Crossroads: Race, Identity, and Freedom
Struggles, edited by Lillian Guerra, Devyn Spence Benson, April Mayes,
and Solsiree del Moral



Publication of this work made
possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Contributors: Tanya Harmer Emily Snyder Felipe Cesar Camilo Caro Romero Ailynn Torres Santana Robert Franco Michelle
Chase Isabella Cosse Siwei Wang Ximena Espeche Sarah J. Seidman Rafael Cesar Alexis Baldacci

Author Biography

Michelle Chase, associate professor of history at Pace University, is the author of Revolution within the Revolution: Women and Gender Politics in Cuba, 1952-1962. Isabella Cosse, professor of history at Universidad Nacional de San Martín and
researcher at Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), is the author of Mafalda: A Social and Political History of Latin America’s Global Comic.