The One-footed Roller Skater. A Visual Ethnography of Contemporary Cuba

This article deals with scarcity of goods, consumption, and the ethics of photographing scarcity of goods in contemporary Cuba. It is based on a six-month ethnographic research conducted in 2015 and 2018 respectively and shows some of the photographs I took during these two visits. In the first...

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Autor principal:	Mădălina Cristea
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN FR
Publicado:	National Museum of the Romanian Peasant 2021
Materias:	consumption black-market scarcity transition romania cuba Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology GN301-674
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/cc75ac3858a3443c93c7dd54aa773610
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cc75ac3858a3443c93c7dd54aa7736102021-11-22T13:52:39ZThe One-footed Roller Skater. A Visual Ethnography of Contemporary Cuba 1224-62712734-8350https://doaj.org/article/cc75ac3858a3443c93c7dd54aa7736102021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttp://martor.muzeultaranuluiroman.ro/archive/martor-26-2021/2021_11/https://doaj.org/toc/1224-6271https://doaj.org/toc/2734-8350This article deals with scarcity of goods, consumption, and the ethics of photographing scarcity of goods in contemporary Cuba. It is based on a six-month ethnographic research conducted in 2015 and 2018 respectively and shows some of the photographs I took during these two visits. In the first part I discuss the scarcity and distribution of goods in and out of socialist environments, differences between capitalism and communism and non-traditional methods of consumption. How do desires of consumption impact people in contemporary communist Cuban society? What is the role of Cuban diaspora in sending so-called capitalist goods to Cuba? It also draws a connecting line between a state-controlled communist economy and specific forms of capitalist entrepreneurship, through the existence of a black market and the distribution of goods between people. The second part of the article questions my position in the field as an outsider who was gradually familiarized with the Cuban understanding of the world more generally, and of consumption specifically. How did locals react to photographs taken by foreigners like me? How can two children share one pair of roller skates and distribute their happiness? Making visible certain aspects of scarcity in contemporary communist Cuban society made me realize that photography has a profound ethical dimension. Mădălina CristeaNational Museum of the Romanian Peasantarticleconsumptionblack-marketscarcitytransitionromaniacubaEthnology. Social and cultural anthropologyGN301-674ENFRMartor, Vol 26, Pp 159-163 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN FR
topic	consumption black-market scarcity transition romania cuba Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology GN301-674
spellingShingle	consumption black-market scarcity transition romania cuba Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology GN301-674 Mădălina Cristea The One-footed Roller Skater. A Visual Ethnography of Contemporary Cuba
description	This article deals with scarcity of goods, consumption, and the ethics of photographing scarcity of goods in contemporary Cuba. It is based on a six-month ethnographic research conducted in 2015 and 2018 respectively and shows some of the photographs I took during these two visits. In the first part I discuss the scarcity and distribution of goods in and out of socialist environments, differences between capitalism and communism and non-traditional methods of consumption. How do desires of consumption impact people in contemporary communist Cuban society? What is the role of Cuban diaspora in sending so-called capitalist goods to Cuba? It also draws a connecting line between a state-controlled communist economy and specific forms of capitalist entrepreneurship, through the existence of a black market and the distribution of goods between people. The second part of the article questions my position in the field as an outsider who was gradually familiarized with the Cuban understanding of the world more generally, and of consumption specifically. How did locals react to photographs taken by foreigners like me? How can two children share one pair of roller skates and distribute their happiness? Making visible certain aspects of scarcity in contemporary communist Cuban society made me realize that photography has a profound ethical dimension.
format	article
author	Mădălina Cristea
author_facet	Mădălina Cristea
author_sort	Mădălina Cristea
title	The One-footed Roller Skater. A Visual Ethnography of Contemporary Cuba
title_short	The One-footed Roller Skater. A Visual Ethnography of Contemporary Cuba
title_full	The One-footed Roller Skater. A Visual Ethnography of Contemporary Cuba
title_fullStr	The One-footed Roller Skater. A Visual Ethnography of Contemporary Cuba
title_full_unstemmed	The One-footed Roller Skater. A Visual Ethnography of Contemporary Cuba
title_sort	one-footed roller skater. a visual ethnography of contemporary cuba
publisher	National Museum of the Romanian Peasant
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/cc75ac3858a3443c93c7dd54aa773610
work_keys_str_mv	AT madalinacristea theonefootedrollerskateravisualethnographyofcontemporarycuba AT madalinacristea onefootedrollerskateravisualethnographyofcontemporarycuba
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The One-footed Roller Skater. A Visual Ethnography of Contemporary Cuba

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