Leveraging bargaining power under patriarchy: the economic development of post-revolutionary Cuban women

Ernst, Kathleen M

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Description

Title

Leveraging bargaining power under patriarchy: the economic development of post-revolutionary Cuban women

Author(s)

Ernst, Kathleen M

Issue Date

2015-04-30

Department of Study

Latin American & Carib Studies

Discipline

Latin American Studies

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Cuba
• Women
• Education
• Patriarchy
• Bargaining power

Abstract

This socio-historical investigation discusses education as a key contributor to women’s development in Cuba since 1959 all the while operating under a well-entrenched patriarchal backdrop. Economic indicators through labor participation are emphasized as the primary metrics for women’s development, while bearing in mind the implicit intersectionalities that they represent in the political and social spheres. A discussion of the Cuban education system, instituted to support Revolutionary ideologies, is presented along with statistical comparisons that demonstrate dramatic development achievements which widened employment opportunities for women. It underscores intentional decisions on the part of Revolutionary leadership to utilize Marxist socialism as the mechanism by which to emancipate women and exposes the oversight of the patriarchal suppositions that underlay its theoretical bases. With consideration for multiple economic, political and social achievements, various obstacles to progress and particular backslides experienced by the post-Revolutionary female population, I consider the possible use of negotiation and leverage of bargaining power from a perceived position of weakness as a potential course of action that women may undertake to overcome and dismantle patriarchal obstacles.

Graduation Semester

2015-5

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/78534

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2015 Kathleen Ernst

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