Che as Minister: the promotion of science and technology for Cuba’s socialist development

Yaffe, H. (2022) Che as Minister: the promotion of science and technology for Cuba’s socialist development. Globalizations, (doi: 10.1080/14747731.2022.2111078) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

As Minister of Industries in Cuba between 1961 and 1965, Che Guevara addressed the challenge of increasing production and labour productivity in conditions of underdevelopment and in transition to socialism, without relying on capitalist mechanisms that undermine the formation of new consciousness and social relations integral to socialism. Under capitalism, Guevara noted, competition for private profit drives the application of science and technology to industrial development, revolutionising the productive forces. Socialist governments must find alternative methods. To these ends, Guevara set up nine research and development institutes, focussing on sugar cane derivatives, minerals and metals, the chemical industries, agricultural by-products, the mechanical industry, technological innovations, and automation. He established an institutional framework to begin experimentation at different ends of the production chain simultaneously. The short-term results were inevitably limited, but more significant than the productive achievements attained was the methodology introduced, the application of science and technology to production.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Yaffe, Dr Helen
• Authors: Yaffe, H.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Economic and Social History
• Journal Name: Globalizations
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1474-7731
• ISSN (Online): 1474-774X
• Published Online: 23 August 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Author
• First Published: First published in Globalizations 2022
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License