Socialist Ensembles
Theater and State in Cuba and Nicaragua
An ethnography of theater and political culture in Cuba and Nicaragua, Martin’s work reveals the tensions and negotiations among different dimensions of society that characterize the socialist project. Martin considers Nicaragua from the Sandinista through the Chamorro administrations, and Cuba from the time of the reforms known as rectification through the withdrawal of Soviet aid.
Socialist Ensembles is an extremely important and durable study. It will influence the discussion of socialism for years to come. It may well be a classic.
Michael Brown, Northeastern University
Most discussions of socialist development within nation-states focus exclusively on the state, leaving civil society out of the picture. By looking into the realm of theater in two socialist countries, Randy Martin broadens this view. An ethnography of theater and political culture in Cuba and Nicaragua, his work reveals the tensions and negotiations among different dimensions of society that characterize the socialist project.
Theater, Martin shows us, is a particularly elastic expression of aesthetic and organizational form that can prefigure broader social developments. Taking its cues from cultural processes beyond the stage, the critical sensibility displayed there is indicative of the ongoing reformation of the socialist project.
Martin considers Nicaragua from the Sandinista through the Chamorro administrations, and Cuba from the time of the reforms known as rectification through the withdrawal of Soviet aid.
Socialist Ensembles is an extremely important and durable study. It will influence the discussion of socialism for years to come. It may well be a classic.
Michael Brown, Northeastern University
Martin's book is invaluable.
Contemporary Sociology
