1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910253894303321

Autore

Baracca Angelo

Titolo

Subalternity vs. Hegemony, Cuba's Outstanding Achievements in Science and Biotechnology, 1959-2014 / / by Angelo Baracca, Rosella Franconi

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2016

ISBN

3-319-40609-4

Edizione

[1st ed. 2016.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XII, 103 p.)

Collana

SpringerBriefs in History of Science and Technology, , 2211-4564

Disciplina

338.9729106

Soggetti

Pharmaceutical technology

Biomedical engineering

Biotechnology

Medicine

Physics

Ethnology—Latin America

Pharmaceutical Sciences/Technology

Biomedical Engineering/Biotechnology

Medicine/Public Health, general

Physics, general

Latin American Culture

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters.

Nota di contenuto

Chapter 1. Introduction. Cuba’s exceptional scientific development -- Chapter 2. Meeting subalternity, a constant challenge in Cuban history -- Chapter 3. Addressing the challenge of scientific development: the first steep steps of a long path -- Chapter 4. Reaching a critical mass and laying the foundations of an advanced scientific system -- Chapter 5. The decisive leap in the 1980s: the attainment of Cuba’s scientific autonomy -- Chapter 6. Decisive results … and new challenges -- Chapter 7. Comparative considerations and Conclusions.

Sommario/riassunto

The present book introduces an original (new) perspective on Cuba. This book revisits Cuba's choice, after the 1959 revolution, to develop



an advanced healthcare and scientific system. It also introduces new aspects of the problem development/underdevelopment. From the start, every effort of the Cuban leadership and scientific community was driven by the primary purpose of meeting the country’s basic economic and social needs. Immediate key measures taken after the revolution included free education up to  higher levels and free health services. In only a couple of decades Third World diseases were defeated and a First World health profile was achieved. In the sciences, support and collaboration was sought and welcomed from both Soviet and western countries. Moreover, due to the backward position of the Soviet Union in genetics and molecular biology, in the early 1970s Cuban scientists were trained in these fields mainly by Italian biologists. In the following decade, initially relying on contacts with American and Finnish specialists, Cuban biologists and physicians built a large industrial biotechnology complex to produce and commercialize Cuban-made, and often invented, medicines and vaccines. In the early 1990s the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist market created an unprecedented challenge. Yet Cuba’s scientific system substantially resiled, despite unavoidable setbacks. This crisis was faced by confirming and reinforcing government support for biotechnology, with the result that today Cuba excels at a global level in the typical capital-intensive field of biotechnology. While this book is especially devoted to historians of science and technology and to biotechnologists, it is of interest to the general public.  .