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A review by bahareads
Race and Reproduction in Cuba by Bonnie A. Lucero
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Lucero presents a counter-narrative to to male-normative perspective that dominates Cuban demographic history by centering women and women's reproduction in island politics. She shows how the twin demographic goals of white population growth and non-white population management shaped reproduction from colonialization to the Cuban revolution. She claims to employ the lens of reproduction to examine pregnancy and childbearing within a broad range. She uses a broader conceptual and chronological frame to reveal attitudes towards abortion were complex and changed over time. Lucero seeks to give readers access to the voices, perspectives, and experiences of women.
Cuban slave scholars focus on family formation and midwifery and less on reproduction solely. The desire for whiteness remained a constant in Cuban history. Honour and status shaped women's reproduction. The centrepiece of the book is 1780-1880, though she spans up to 1956. This book recognizes women who attempted to disaggregate womanhood from motherhood.
The biggest problem with this book is Lucero's definition of a non-white population is solely Black. The brief mentions of the Indigenous and Chinese in the book were not enough. To employ a solely black-and-white dynamic on Cuba de-complicates the historical circumstances of what's actually going on here. PLUS she flip-flops on pieces of her argument throughout the book; sometimes the State's close attention to White people is a good thing and other times it's a bad thing.
My professor (who is a Latin Americanist) had a lot of issues with Lucero's approach to the book and some of her conclusions; all of which make complete sense. Another issue is that 1920-1956 is smooshed into one chapter and covers a lot of ground. You miss a lot of historical context.
The preface of the book was very emotional. You can tell that these topics are very near and dear to Lucero, which I appreciate. The book concludes that the state lay claim to fertility because of population. The interest in pregnancy hinged on race, class and legal status. The Cuban elite feared free Blacks' fertility. Fertility was rooted in the Malthusian perspective of overpopulation and poverty.
Cuban slave scholars focus on family formation and midwifery and less on reproduction solely. The desire for whiteness remained a constant in Cuban history. Honour and status shaped women's reproduction. The centrepiece of the book is 1780-1880, though she spans up to 1956. This book recognizes women who attempted to disaggregate womanhood from motherhood.
The biggest problem with this book is Lucero's definition of a non-white population is solely Black. The brief mentions of the Indigenous and Chinese in the book were not enough. To employ a solely black-and-white dynamic on Cuba de-complicates the historical circumstances of what's actually going on here. PLUS she flip-flops on pieces of her argument throughout the book; sometimes the State's close attention to White people is a good thing and other times it's a bad thing.
My professor (who is a Latin Americanist) had a lot of issues with Lucero's approach to the book and some of her conclusions; all of which make complete sense. Another issue is that 1920-1956 is smooshed into one chapter and covers a lot of ground. You miss a lot of historical context.
The preface of the book was very emotional. You can tell that these topics are very near and dear to Lucero, which I appreciate. The book concludes that the state lay claim to fertility because of population. The interest in pregnancy hinged on race, class and legal status. The Cuban elite feared free Blacks' fertility. Fertility was rooted in the Malthusian perspective of overpopulation and poverty.