Hegemony, Identity, and Trans-Atlantic Modernity

Afro-Cuban Religion (Re)politicization and (De)legitimization in the Post-Soviet Era

Abstract

Despite a long association with brujería, or witchcraft, the Cuban government now recognizes the legitimacy of Afro-Cuban religions. These hybridized faiths, representing a combination of African and European practices, have played an important role in the alleviation of the healthcare and economic crisis of the post-Soviet era, including their use of a rich pharmacopeia of plant species for medicinal and ritual purposes. Health, environmental, and economic policies formed by the Cuban government in the post-Soviet era have continued to penalize access to medicinal plants by Afro-Cuban religious groups, despite a shift from occult and illicit to more ‘scientific’, secular, and hegemonic spheres. Interviews, participant observation, and studies of government authorized medicinal plant sales suggest that official rhetoric on these practices stems from the perceived threats represented by the new-found profitability and politicization of Afro-Cuban religions.