Notes on the newest modernization of Cuban sugar culture. About Author’s experiences and her theory

Abstract

The closure of sugar mills is a known strategy in sugar producers countries. Cuba had several transitions of that kind during xx century, most of them related to technological changes and comercial strategies. In the very beginning of xxi’s Century Cuban government decided to start a new industrial concentration process, which was the biggest one in more than a Century. The half of the existent factories were closed in 2002 and after. In this paper the author narrates the main trends in two of her fieldwork experiences in sugar mills researches, in Matanzas and Artemisa provinces. Both in the west part of the Island. She analyses some aspects about social debates generated by the decission and also about documental sources scarcity. The research, based on Oral History theory, was adressed to create oral sources with workers testimonies, which allows to explore sociocutural ongoing processes. Oral history theory validate life histories and collectif intervews where several narrators talk about their life under the new conditions. Reflections on traditionnal Cuban sugar culture are between the most important conclusions of this work.