Socialist Planning and Social Transformation in Cuba: A Contribution to the Debate

This article examines the process that has shaped the transforma tion of the Cuban social formation from 1961 to the present. To this end, socialist planning is constituted as the object of analysis; planning is viewed as a mani festation of and hence an indicator of a more inclusive process of change. It is our contention that any discussion of planning must be couched in terms commen surate with those used to explain socialism itself, i.e., a discussion of the forms and nature of the social relations. For this reason, we first outline our theoretical formulation of socialism (seen here as the combination of elements from two contradictory modes of production — communism and capitalism). Planning is then located in this general schema prior to a discussion of specific planning practises followed in Cuba for the period under consideration. Our analysis points to the fluidity of the forms taken by planning in Cuba, while attempting to demonstrate that struggles within the Party over correct planning procedures and between the Party and the masses over planning failures have caused this fluidity and stamped each form with its own specific orientation.