Justine William’s Defense- Public Talk

Title: “Otros Caminos: Making an Alternative Agriculture Movement in Everyday Cuba.”

Based on ethnographic research conducted in central Cuba, ‘Otros Caminos: Making an Alternative Agriculture Movement in Everyday Cuba’ examines how the Cuban permaculture movement constructs ethical commitments to sustainable food production and care for nature. Although many analyses of Cuba’s “transition” toward low-input agriculture frame it as a forced response to material scarcity, this dissertation argues that many Cuban sustainable agriculture practitioners have also been deeply compelled by cultural sentiments of frustration, desires for a new way of life, and alternative ecological and social imaginaries.