NADINE FERNANDEZ'S PERSONAL WEB SITE

My research focuses on the social impact of globalization in contemporary Cuba where economic changes are dramatically remaking the social landscape since the collapse of the socialist bloc in 1989. Cuba is in a period that has been termed “late socialism,” characterized by a fascinating hybrid of socialist and capitalist economic and political elements. I am interested in the local ramifications of shifts in the global economy. In particular, my research explores how these shifts affect the fluid practices and meanings of ethnicity, race, gender, and sexuality in Cuba. These interests are reflected in the following streams of research.

• My forthcoming book addresses the central question of how racial inequalities have continued to be produced and reproduced despite the political, social, and economic transformations of the Cuban revolution that aimed to achieve equality for all citizens. The manuscript titled, “Revolutionizing Romance: interracial couples and generational dynamics in Cuba,” brings historical background, ethnographic detail and personal narratives to the understanding of interracial couples’ experiences in contemporary Cuba and the social impact of the economic crisis of the 1990’s. I unravel how the interplay of deeply rooted nationalist ideologies of mestizaje (race mixing), long-standing racial hierarchies, and the dream of socialist equality shapes the quotidian experience of race in the shifting social terrain of late-socialist Cuba.
• My interest in contemporary race and gender relations and the effects of globalization have led me to examine the social impact of tourism, in particular the racialization of female prostitution in Cuba. As Cuba inserts itself into the global tourism industry various types of sex and “romance” tourism have also emerged on the island undermining one of the Revolution’s earliest reforms eradicating prostitution. My work here looks at how race colors the way Cubans perceive relationships with foreigners. Black and mulatto women involved with foreign men are often accused of prostitution, while white women can couch often similar relationships with foreign men as romances. Broadly conceived this research speaks to the racialization of female labor and the gendered nature of globalization.
• Tying together my interest in gender and tourism I am now turning my research to examine marriages between Cubans and foreigners (many who come initially as tourists to the island). These marriages serve as a migration strategy for many young Cubans seeking career opportunities and more comfortable lifestyles available in Europe, Canada or other parts of Latin America.
• I am also interested in Cuba’s move toward a market-oriented economy and the widespread possession of hard currency has spawned the rapid growth of consumerism. I have explored this growing consumer culture and the changing state rhetoric on consumption. Modern global citizenship is increasingly focused on consumption. In Cuba, consumption has been transformed from a socialist sin into a patriotic act that contributes to the growth of the economy. In this period of late socialism this is just one aspect of how the revolution is being redefined and its goals scaled back as Cuba plays at the edges of the global economy. My work examines local responses in the face of these global changes, more specifically how people negotiate and integrate these tremendous shifts in the rhetoric and practices of consumption, and how they struggle to meet their basic needs as state subsidies and social benefits disappear.
• In terms of Cubans in the US, I have also done some comparative research in Miami in which I look at the issues of race and ethnic identity within the Cuban diaspora. More specifically, how have Black Cubans in the U.S. incorporated themselves into the Cuban exile community and larger U.S. society? They are a largely overlooked segment of the Cuban community, both in terms of scholarly research and mainstream U.S. perceptions and representations of the Cuban diaspora. I am intrigued by the negotiations of ethnic, racial, and national identity within the U.S. racial paradigm and the predominantly white/hispanic Cuban exile population.