Toward a Culture of Nature is a comprehensive study of Cuba's environmental policy, specifically the response of the Cuban government to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent shortage of petroleum products. Pamela Stricker analyzes Cuba's transition to sustainable models of agriculture, efforts toward energy independence using renewable resources, the adoption of "green" medicine, a framework law on environmental protection, the impact of tourism and foreign investment on the island, incorporation of environmental education, and the crafting of a culture of nature, that is, a Cuban environmental ethics of sustainable development. Going beyond the standard accounts of formal legislation and executive institutions, Professor Stricker pays special attention to the scientists and activists who worked in all capacities (governmental and non-governmental) to bring about change to the environmental policies. Spanning the second half of the twentieth century, Toward a Culture of Nature is an important case study of environmental policy, ethics, and sustainable development.
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Sustainable Development
Chapter 3. Politics, Economics, and the Shift to Sustainable Agriculture
Chapter 4. From Red to Green: Scientists, Politics, and Agriculture
Chapter 5. Pursuing Energy and Medical Self-Sufficiency
Chapter 6. Pearl of the Sea
Chapter 7. Codifying Environmental Protection
Chapter 8. Opening Pandora's Box
Chapter 9. Greening the Curriculum
Chapter 10. People, Nature, and Development from the Cuban Point of View
Chapter 11. Lessons
Pamela Stricker is an assistant professor of political science at California State University, San Marcos.