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Poverty and Mobility in Low-Status Minorities: the Cuban Case in International Perspective

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Poverty and Mobility in Low-Status Minorities: the Cuban Case in International Perspective World Development Vol. 29, No. 9, pp. 1457±1482, 2001 Ó 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev 0305-750X/01/$ - see front matter PII: S0305-750X01)00058-4 Poverty and Mobility in Low-status Minorities: The Cuban Case in International Perspective JACOB MEERMAN * Visiting Scholar, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA Summary. Ð The paper traces the mobility experience of four low-status, hard-core minorities. It also addresses how governments and others attempt to close their poverty/status gap and with what success. Progress to socioeconomic parity has been uneven: nearly complete for Cuba's blacks ,but perhaps now regressing); at an early stage for India's Dalits ,``untouchables''); advanced but incomplete for Japan's Burakumin and US blacks. Analysis in the paper indicates how Cuba succeeded where other countries have not, and informs the speculation as to whether interracial equality can persist as Cuba becomes more market-oriented. The four-variable model underpins the analysis and integrates human capital theory with economic, sociological and historical theorizing. Ó 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Key words Ð discrimination, cultural endowments, education, human capital, labor markets, income/status parity 1. INTRODUCTION model is used to identify causes of the slow progress to parity of ranked, low-status mi- ,a) Overview norities and for evaluating the ecacy of eorts to foster minority mobility. For the four Worldwide, low-status minorities are pre- groups, progress to parity with their majorities dominantly poor. 1 Poverty reduction is par- ,as measured by educational attainment, family ticularly dicult for minorities with a history of income, and markers for status) has been un- severe exploitation, inter alia, because they even: apparently nearly complete for Cuba's ``inherit'' cultural disadvantages that reinforce blacks; at an early stage for India's Dalits; well the general causes of poverty. Many govern- advanced but with many still caught in poverty ments have attempted to bring these groups to traps for Japan's Burakumin and black Amer- social and economic parity with their majori- icans. ties. This paper reports on research that traces The main reason for publishing a paper on the mobility experience of four such low-status, this work at this stage is the desire to bring the highly disadvantaged minorities ,India's Dalits Cuban experience to the fore. The recent his- or scheduled castes, Japan's Burakumin, tory of black Cubans indicates that they had Cuba's blacks and US blacks), but concentrates largely achieved equality with their majority, as on the Cuban experience. Comparison among measured by income, occupational distribution, the four makes sense because of their similari- educational attainment and health status. This ties: all share the culture of their corresponding presents a striking exception to the rule that majorities; all have a history of profound ex- achievement of socioeconomic parity by highly ploitation by their majorities; all have govern- exploited minorities historically ranked near ments long dedicated to bringing them into the the bottom of their social hierarchies 2 is nec- economic mainstream. The key research ques- essarily a slower process than that of other low- tions are: why is progress slow; how do the status minorities, such as voluntary immigrant minorities themselves, their governments, and communities. Discussion on ``why and the others attempt to close the poverty/status gap; wherefore'' of this experience has been limited, and with what success. The research relies heavily on human capital theory, and pulls to- gether accepted theorizing and ®ndings from * The author thanks the two reviewers for several several social science disciplines. The resulting helpful suggestions Final revision accepted: 5 April 2001. 1457 1458 WORLD DEVELOPMENT notwithstanding its implications for policy majorities in that a higher proportion of their work. The paper responds to this issue in con- members are socially immobile, caught in sidering the Cuban experience on several di- ``poverty traps,'' at the bottom of the relative mensions. ,i) It seeks to show why planned and income distributions. 4 rapid basic social change on a broad scale was Cost are also high for society as a whole. feasible. ,``Stateways can change folkways'' 3) Diminished social cohesion between minority ,ii) It suggests that the negative impact on hu- and others is one such cost. In line with Put- man development of destructive cultural en- nam's theorizing about social capital, dimin- dowments can be quickly overcome on a mass ished social cohesion implies that interaction basis. ,iii) It implicitly presents further evidence between majority and disadvantaged minority against the thesis of systematic dierences individuals, be it business, social or political, on among ethnic groups ,including races) with average involves higher transaction costs than respect to innate or genetic capacity for eco- similar transactions among people with greater nomic productivity. mutual trust and respect. In consequence, The paper compares the mobility experience progress in building the institutions and in- of Cuba's blacks with those of the other three vesting the capital, human and material, needed minorities and indicates why Cuba succeeded for political and economic development may be whereas other countries have not. Research on signi®cantly slowed. These underlying social Cuba is needed to con®rm this success story; dynamics explain part of the negative relation to determine why cultural endowments of between economic growth and economic in- Cuban blacks appear to have been less of a equality. In addition, aggregate savings and problem than in other countries; to trace the both human and conventional capital forma- role of Cuba's education system in bringing tion are reduced because hard-core low-status blacks to parity; and to determine whether groups are discouraged both from acquiring Cuba's interracial equality can persist as the skills and experience, and from entering occu- Cuban economy evolves from a socialist to- pations that provide them the highest earnings. ward a market-oriented/private-property sys- Moreover, resources that could ®nance devel- tem. opment expenditures are diverted to repressive or compensatory uses. In sum, low-status mi- norities suer more than their fair share of life's ,b) High social costs of majority-over-minority misfortunes. They are involved in a nexus of systems unnecessarily high social and personal costs, while the larger society and economy also incur The four low-status minorities in this re- signi®cant costs. search incur unusually high social costs. During the course of economic development they move ,c) Four minorities more slowly out of poverty than the majority or many other minorities. Their slow road to The research focuses on India's Dalits or equality derives from their history of exploita- scheduled castes, Cuban blacks, Japan's Bu- tion, including slavery and outcaste status. rakumin, and US blacks. These were chosen Within their countries, they have lower incomes because ,because of historical or continuing restrictions Ðtheir national governments have made on access to education and occupations), a sustained eects to integrate them into the higher incidence of disability and illness mainstream, since the WW II or earlier; ,physical and mental), and shorter life spans Ðthey are ``hard-core'' in that many of their than the corresponding majorities. Psychologi- members have been extremely slow to cal costs, including those that result from a achieve economic and social parity with their reduced sense of worth, are also high. Because majorities; of these handicaps they also absorb a dispro- Ðthe countries dier substantially in their portionate share of public resources that ®- degree of economic development, in their nance welfare programs, hospitalization, foster ideology, and in their political institutions; parenthood, homeless shelters, rehabilitation Ðthe four minorities themselves have simi- programs, prisons, etc. But members of these lar basic characteristics that facilitate com- minorities are not uniformly poor. They dier parison among them. These are: from majorities in having relatively more poor ,i) In contrast to ethnic groups in which ac- and fewer rich. They also dier from their tive membership is to a degree voluntary LOW-STATUS MINORITIES 1459 ,Chiswick, 1998), membership in these mi- role of each of the four is explained below. They norities is publicly imposed and dicult are then used to describe the mobility paths and to escape. progress to parity of each of the four minorities. ,ii) Unlike ethnic minorities that advocate We begin with the fourth variable, the pace of separation from the larger state, most economic development. members of these four minorities desire ac- ceptance as citizens with economic and so- cial status equal to those of the majority. ,b) Growth and social integration ,iii) The four minorities are native-borne. They share the majority culture ,language, Table 1 shows that the four minorities are in religions, and mores) and are geographi- countries at dierent stages of economic de- cally dispersed within their countries. But velopment. This permits research to see each has developed a subculture re¯ecting whether development per se brings improved its special historical experience that in part economic status for durable, low-status mi-
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