The revolution is for the children : the politics of childhood in Havana and Miami, 1959-1962 / Anita Casavantes Bradford.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Casavantes Bradford, Anita, author.

Series:

Envisioning Cuba

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political refugees.

History.

Cubans--Political activity.

Cubans.

Children.

Social conditions.

Children--Government policy.

Social aspects.

Cuba--History--Revolution, 1959--Social aspects.

Cuba.

Children--Government policy--Cuba.

Children and politics.

Children--Cuba--Social conditions--20th century.

Children--Florida--Miami--Social conditions--20th century.

Cubans--Political activity--Florida--Miami--History--20th century.

Political refugees--Florida--Miami--History--20th century.

Florida--Miami.

Physical Description:

xii, 263 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, [2014]

Summary:

"Since 1959, the Cuban revolutionary government has proudly proclaimed that "the revolution is for the children." Many Cuban Americans reject this claim, asserting that they chose exile in the United States to protect their children from the evils of "Castro-communism." Anita Casavantes Bradford's analysis of the pivotal years between the Revolution's triumph and the 1962 Missile Crisis uncovers how and when children were first pressed into political service by ideologically opposed Cuban communities on both sides of the Florida Straits. Casavantes Bradford argues that, in Havana, the Castro government deployed a morally charged "politics of childhood" to steer a nationalist and reformist revolution toward socialism. At the same time, Miami exile leaders put children at the heart of efforts to mobilize opposition to Castro's regime and to link the well-being of Cuban refugees to U.S. Cold War foreign policy objectives. Casavantes Bradford concludes that the 1999 Elian Gonzalez custody battle was the most notorious recent manifestation of the ongoing struggle to define and control Cuban childhood, revealing the persistent centrality of children to Cuban politics and national identity. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 For the Children 18

José Martí and the Politics of Cuban Childhood, 1898-1958

2 La Revolutión-es Para los Niños? 45

The Politics of Childhood and the Origins of Dissent in Revolutionary Cuba

3 Childhood and Civil Society in Revolutionary Cuba 66

4 Children, Radicalization, and the Cuban Counterrevolution 92

5 Our Cuban Visitors 121

Immigration, Race, and the Cold War Politics of Childhood in Miami, 1959-1961

6 To Save Our Children 148

The Politics of Childhood in the Anti-Castro Struggle, 1959-1962.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781469611525

146961152X

OCLC:

867769700

Online:

Cover image