Constituting Socialism for the Twenty-First Century: Examining Cuba's 2019 Constitution

Abstract

this article summarises the results of a qualitative content analysis of the 2019 Cuban Constitution, approved in a national referendum on 24 February 2019, and compares Cuba’s constitutionally identified structures and processes with those highlighted as core characteristics of what has been termed twenty-first-century socialism. the article draws mainly on the work of Marta Harnecker (2010 and 2015), who includes the following features of twenty-first-century socialism: a) promoting participative democracy; b) creating the political instrument needed to lead the transition; c) instituting social ownership of the means of production; d) organising the economy toward satisfying human needs; e) having a decentralised (but aggregating) planned economy (including establishing worker-organised production as well as conceiving of efficiency as respect for nature and investment in full human development); f) incorporating material and moral incentives; g) educating for full human development