The Revolutionary City: Socialist Urbanisation and Nuclear Modernity in Cienfuegos, Cuba

Gustav Cederlof

doi:10.1017/S0022216X19000920

The Revolutionary City: Socialist Urbanisation and Nuclear Modernity in Cienfuegos, Cuba

Gustav Cederlof

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

During the Cold War, Havana symbolised the struggle for national liberation in Latin America. Yet in few other places on the island of Cuba did the Revolution’s visions of development materialise as they did in the southern city of Cienfuegos. This article examines why two half-finished nuclear reactors and a decaying ‘nuclear city’ still remain in Cienfuegos. Through a comprehensive spatial and infrastructural transformation of Cuba, the revolutionary government sought to remedy the evils of dependency and unequal exchange. Cienfuegos, and its shifting place in the Cold War political economy, demonstrates how a radical critique of urbanisation merged with the spatiality of centralised energy infrastructure in the pursuit of ultimately-failed nuclear modernity. The history of Cienfuegos draws the academic gaze away from Latin America’s major cities to broaden the ‘geographies of theory’ in urban, energy and Latin American studies.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	53-76
Number of pages	24
Journal	Journal of Latin American Studies
Volume	52
Issue number	1
Early online date	17 Sept 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022216X19000920
Publication status	Published - Feb 2020

Keywords

Cold War
Cuban revolution
Infrastructure
Nuclear energy
Unequal exchange
Urbanisation

UN SDGs

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10.1017/S0022216X19000920Licence: CC BY

The Revolutionary City: Socialist_CEDERLOF_Accepted22March2019_Published17September2019_GOLD VoR (CC BY)Final published version, 614 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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The Revolutionary City: Socialist Urbanisation and Nuclear Modernity in Cienfuegos, Cuba

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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