[act-ma] 12/05 Drclas-Cuban Studies Jonathan Hansen "Fidel Castro before the Revolution"

[July 26th Coalition]

for what it's worth.......

David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies - Cuban Studies 
Program Seminar Series

/History Cannot Absolve Him, but Can it Comprehend Him? Fidel Castro 
Before the Revolution/

Book presentation by Jonathan Hansen

My work holds up a mirror to American history, juxtaposing the nation's 
claim to be the beacon of liberty and the rule of law to its checkered 
record in upholding these principles at home and abroad. The first fruit 
of the this labor, /The Lost Promise of Patriotism/ (Chicago, 2003), 
explored early 20th-century debates about what it means to be "American" 
and about America's role in the world. My next book, /Guantánamo: An 
American History/ (Hill and Wang, 2011), examined post-9/11 Guantánamo 
in the context of the nation's liberal political economy, with its 
unslakable appetite for land, labor, resources, and markets.

Like these previous books, my current project, *Young Castro*, is a tale 
of lost promises and dashed dreams, tragic on personal, national, and 
global levels. It tells the story of a young nationalist leader 
naturally drawn to the United States--and with much to benefit from 
allying with it --struggling to realize the century-old dream of a Cuba 
free and independent of foreign rule.

It's no mystery how this turned out. But why things turned out the way 
they did remains open to debate. Without absolving Castro of historical 
responsibility, I view his growing extremism as at least in part a 
reflection of U.S. designs on Cuba reaching back before America's founding.

Friday Dec. 5th
Noon to 2 PM

1730 Cambridge Street, Room 2S-216

Cambridge, MA 02138

http://drclas.harvard.edu/event/cuban-studies-program-fidel-castro-revolution

drclas.harvard.edu <http://drclas.harvard.edu/>

http://www.jonathanmhansen.com/