Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Chicago, 2006 Supervisors: Marshall Sahlins, Jean Comaroff, Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Andrew Apter, and R.T. Smith Phone: 505 954-7240 Address: 660 Garcia Street Santa Fe, NM 87505
Beyond Cuban Waters: África, La Yuma, and the Island's Global Imagination , 2018
Collated reviews of my book, Beyond Cuban Waters: África, La Yuma, and the Island's Global Imagin... more Collated reviews of my book, Beyond Cuban Waters: África, La Yuma, and the Island's Global Imagination (Vanderbilt University Press, 2018)
The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation. Second edition. By Leo R. C... more The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation. Second edition. By Leo R. Chavez. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2013. Pp. xi +297. $22.95 paper. $70.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780804783521. The Immigrant Divide: How Cuban Americans Changed the US and Their Homeland. By Susan Eva Eckstein. New York: Routledge, 2009. Pp. xi + 298. $38.50 paper. $156.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780415999236. The Diaspora Strikes Back: Caribeño Tales of Learning and Turning. By Juan Flores. New York: Routledge, 2009. Pp. viii + 237. $41.95 paper. ISBN: 9780415952613. Transnational Crossroads: Remapping the Americas and the Pacifi c. Edited by Camilla Fojas and Rudy P. Guevarra Jr. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2012. Pp. x + 478. $45.00 paper. ISBN: 9780803237957. Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network. By Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. v + 164. $19.95 paper. ISBN: 9780199739387. Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban American Way. Revised edition. By Gustavo Pérez Firmat. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012. Pp. ix + 240. $24.95 paper. $55.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780292735996. Showdown in the Sonoran Desert: Religion, Law, and the Immigration Controversy. By Ananda Rose. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2012. Pp. vii + 186. $29.95 cloth. ISBN: 9780199890934.
... Latino studies, but has particularly resonated throughout US-based Cuban Studies (eg, intervi... more ... Latino studies, but has particularly resonated throughout US-based Cuban Studies (eg, interviews with Francisco Soto and Gisele M. Riquena ... From José Martí's 'Nuestra América' (Martí 1993) to La Caridad de Cobre (Portuondo Zúñiga 2001) and Caliban (Fernández Retamar ...
The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation. Second edition. By Leo R. C... more The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation. Second edition. By Leo R. Chavez. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2013. Pp. xi +297. $22.95 paper. $70.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780804783521. The Immigrant Divide: How Cuban Americans Changed the US and Their Homeland. By Susan Eva Eckstein. New York: Routledge, 2009. Pp. xi + 298. $38.50 paper. $156.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780415999236. The Diaspora Strikes Back: Caribeño Tales of Learning and Turning. By Juan Flores. New York: Routledge, 2009. Pp. viii + 237. $41.95 paper. ISBN: 9780415952613. Transnational Crossroads: Remapping the Americas and the Pacifi c. Edited by Camilla Fojas and Rudy P. Guevarra Jr. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2012. Pp. x + 478. $45.00 paper. ISBN: 9780803237957. Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network. By Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. v + 164. $19.95 paper. ISBN: 9780199739387. Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban American Way. Revised edition. By Gustavo Pérez Firmat. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012. Pp. ix + 240. $24.95 paper. $55.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780292735996. Showdown in the Sonoran Desert: Religion, Law, and the Immigration Controversy. By Ananda Rose. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2012. Pp. vii + 186. $29.95 cloth. ISBN: 9780199890934.
The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology
This article argues that, in addition to other more easily recognizable meanings, U.S. brands and... more This article argues that, in addition to other more easily recognizable meanings, U.S. brands and goods (e.g U.S. flag-patterned clothing, Nike, Hilfiger, etc) in post-Soviet Cuba are particularly valued as markers of a privileged position in a remittance economy oriented towards Miami. The meanings of fashions, of course, change over time and have histories, which are here analyzed in relation to the Cuban vernacular term "La Yuma."
Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, 2017
This article argues that, in addition to other more easily recognizable meanings, U.S. brands and... more This article argues that, in addition to other more easily recognizable meanings, U.S. brands and goods (e.g U.S. flag-patterned clothing, Nike, Hilfiger, etc) in post-Soviet Cuba are particularly valued as markers of a privileged position in a remittance economy oriented towards Miami. The meanings of fashions, of course, change over time and have histories, which are here analyzed in relation to the Cuban vernacular term "La Yuma."
What constitutes a conspiracy, and what are the stakes of popular theories of conspiracy? This ar... more What constitutes a conspiracy, and what are the stakes of popular theories of conspiracy? This article addresses these questions through an ethno-historical examination of narratives about conspiracies endured and posited by Cuban people. Long before the Revolution in 1959, continuing through the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, numerous assassination attempts against Fidel Castro, and onward to recent claims of biological warfare orchestrated by the government of the US, conspiracy theories have circulated widely in Cuba and its diasporic enclaves. Drawing on ethnographic and historical data, the article embeds present-day narratives of conspiracy in the longer-run history of Cuban conspiracy theories such as those initially presented in the case of the USS Maine and its nineteenth-century precursors, notably including the stationing of the HMS Romney in Havana harbour, and the so-called conspiracy of La Escalera in 1844. It argues, ultimately, that these tales are always morality tales, counterposing nefarious agents of an illegitimate external power to the imagined community of those (including the narrator's self and audience) thus disenfranchised. In that sense, then, the truth value of any particular account of conspiracy is irrelevant to the larger truth of Empire.
Millennial Capitalism and the Culture of Neoliberalism, 2001
This brief photo-essay, published in Millennial Capitalism and the Culture of Neoliberalism, ed. ... more This brief photo-essay, published in Millennial Capitalism and the Culture of Neoliberalism, ed. by John & Jean Comaroff, Duke University Press, 2001, illustrates my initial attempt as a graduate student to make sense of the Cuban taste for U.S.-themed fashions.
Beyond Cuban Waters: África, La Yuma, and the Island's Global Imagination , 2018
Collated reviews of my book, Beyond Cuban Waters: África, La Yuma, and the Island's Global Imagin... more Collated reviews of my book, Beyond Cuban Waters: África, La Yuma, and the Island's Global Imagination (Vanderbilt University Press, 2018)
The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation. Second edition. By Leo R. C... more The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation. Second edition. By Leo R. Chavez. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2013. Pp. xi +297. $22.95 paper. $70.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780804783521. The Immigrant Divide: How Cuban Americans Changed the US and Their Homeland. By Susan Eva Eckstein. New York: Routledge, 2009. Pp. xi + 298. $38.50 paper. $156.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780415999236. The Diaspora Strikes Back: Caribeño Tales of Learning and Turning. By Juan Flores. New York: Routledge, 2009. Pp. viii + 237. $41.95 paper. ISBN: 9780415952613. Transnational Crossroads: Remapping the Americas and the Pacifi c. Edited by Camilla Fojas and Rudy P. Guevarra Jr. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2012. Pp. x + 478. $45.00 paper. ISBN: 9780803237957. Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network. By Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. v + 164. $19.95 paper. ISBN: 9780199739387. Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban American Way. Revised edition. By Gustavo Pérez Firmat. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012. Pp. ix + 240. $24.95 paper. $55.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780292735996. Showdown in the Sonoran Desert: Religion, Law, and the Immigration Controversy. By Ananda Rose. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2012. Pp. vii + 186. $29.95 cloth. ISBN: 9780199890934.
... Latino studies, but has particularly resonated throughout US-based Cuban Studies (eg, intervi... more ... Latino studies, but has particularly resonated throughout US-based Cuban Studies (eg, interviews with Francisco Soto and Gisele M. Riquena ... From José Martí's 'Nuestra América' (Martí 1993) to La Caridad de Cobre (Portuondo Zúñiga 2001) and Caliban (Fernández Retamar ...
The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation. Second edition. By Leo R. C... more The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation. Second edition. By Leo R. Chavez. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2013. Pp. xi +297. $22.95 paper. $70.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780804783521. The Immigrant Divide: How Cuban Americans Changed the US and Their Homeland. By Susan Eva Eckstein. New York: Routledge, 2009. Pp. xi + 298. $38.50 paper. $156.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780415999236. The Diaspora Strikes Back: Caribeño Tales of Learning and Turning. By Juan Flores. New York: Routledge, 2009. Pp. viii + 237. $41.95 paper. ISBN: 9780415952613. Transnational Crossroads: Remapping the Americas and the Pacifi c. Edited by Camilla Fojas and Rudy P. Guevarra Jr. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2012. Pp. x + 478. $45.00 paper. ISBN: 9780803237957. Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network. By Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. v + 164. $19.95 paper. ISBN: 9780199739387. Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban American Way. Revised edition. By Gustavo Pérez Firmat. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012. Pp. ix + 240. $24.95 paper. $55.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780292735996. Showdown in the Sonoran Desert: Religion, Law, and the Immigration Controversy. By Ananda Rose. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2012. Pp. vii + 186. $29.95 cloth. ISBN: 9780199890934.
The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology
This article argues that, in addition to other more easily recognizable meanings, U.S. brands and... more This article argues that, in addition to other more easily recognizable meanings, U.S. brands and goods (e.g U.S. flag-patterned clothing, Nike, Hilfiger, etc) in post-Soviet Cuba are particularly valued as markers of a privileged position in a remittance economy oriented towards Miami. The meanings of fashions, of course, change over time and have histories, which are here analyzed in relation to the Cuban vernacular term "La Yuma."
Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, 2017
This article argues that, in addition to other more easily recognizable meanings, U.S. brands and... more This article argues that, in addition to other more easily recognizable meanings, U.S. brands and goods (e.g U.S. flag-patterned clothing, Nike, Hilfiger, etc) in post-Soviet Cuba are particularly valued as markers of a privileged position in a remittance economy oriented towards Miami. The meanings of fashions, of course, change over time and have histories, which are here analyzed in relation to the Cuban vernacular term "La Yuma."
What constitutes a conspiracy, and what are the stakes of popular theories of conspiracy? This ar... more What constitutes a conspiracy, and what are the stakes of popular theories of conspiracy? This article addresses these questions through an ethno-historical examination of narratives about conspiracies endured and posited by Cuban people. Long before the Revolution in 1959, continuing through the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, numerous assassination attempts against Fidel Castro, and onward to recent claims of biological warfare orchestrated by the government of the US, conspiracy theories have circulated widely in Cuba and its diasporic enclaves. Drawing on ethnographic and historical data, the article embeds present-day narratives of conspiracy in the longer-run history of Cuban conspiracy theories such as those initially presented in the case of the USS Maine and its nineteenth-century precursors, notably including the stationing of the HMS Romney in Havana harbour, and the so-called conspiracy of La Escalera in 1844. It argues, ultimately, that these tales are always morality tales, counterposing nefarious agents of an illegitimate external power to the imagined community of those (including the narrator's self and audience) thus disenfranchised. In that sense, then, the truth value of any particular account of conspiracy is irrelevant to the larger truth of Empire.
Millennial Capitalism and the Culture of Neoliberalism, 2001
This brief photo-essay, published in Millennial Capitalism and the Culture of Neoliberalism, ed. ... more This brief photo-essay, published in Millennial Capitalism and the Culture of Neoliberalism, ed. by John & Jean Comaroff, Duke University Press, 2001, illustrates my initial attempt as a graduate student to make sense of the Cuban taste for U.S.-themed fashions.
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