The “Liberal Moment” of the Revolution Early Educational Reforms in Revolutionary Cuba

The history of Cuba's revolution is usually associated with an authoritarian, Soviet-influenced model of Communism. The success of Cuba's educational system has often been praised as the revolution's most impressive achievement. Were these two notions necessarily tied together? In this talk I argue that the revolutionary government's early reforms were democratic, liberal and based on republican traditions but influenced by a revolutionary impetus. Unearthing educational policies characterized by public-private partnerships and heterogeneous pedagogical influences and forms of collaboration, including from the United States, helps revising a dominant teleological perspective on Cuban historiography, historicize the shift towards socialist policies and enrich contemporary debates on reforms in Cuba today.