The Cuban Cure: Reason and Resistance in Global Science

S. M. Reid-Henry

ABSTRACT

After Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, his second declaration, after socialism, was that Cuba would become a leader in international science. In biotechnology he would be proven right and, today, Cuba counts a meningitis B vaccine and cutting-edge cancer therapies to its name. But how did this politically and geographically isolated country make such impressive advances? Drawing on a unique ethnography, and blending the insights of anthropology, sociology, and geography, this book shows how Cuba came to compete with U. S. pharmaceutical giants—despite a trade embargo and crippling national debt. In uncovering what is distinct about Cuban biomedical science, this book examines the forms of resistance that biotechnology research in Cuba presents to the globalization of western models of scientific culture and practice. The book illustrates the epistemic, social, and ideological clashes that take place when two cultures of research meet, and how such interactions develop as political and economic circumstances change