Research

My primary interest is on state-driven development processes in the present context of economic and cultural globalization. My current research in the "emerging tourist area" of Jardines del Rey--a tourist area in north Cuba where some of the most important tourism development projects on the island are currently under way--examines the economic, cultural and environmental aspects of tourism development since the early 1990s. Currently, I write a book manuscript (tentatively titled Authentically Global: Cuban Culture and Economy in the Age of Mass Tourism) about Cuba's experience with international tourism development since the 1990s. My main contention is that Cuba is rapidly becoming a model for sustainable tourism development in the Caribbean, a group of island-nations whose economies depend heavily on revenues from international tourism.

Prior to this research experience, between 1996 and 2002 I carried out ethnographic research in southern Puerto Rico and examined the transformation of the agrarian economy in three communities where government intervention since the 1940s has sought to modernize traditional forms of economic production. Since the early 1950s, the promotion of industrial development has diversified the economic alternatives available to the rural workers. As a result, many local residents-who have historically depended on small-scale fishing-now can find jobs in several of the industries located near their communities while others migrate to various regions of the United States. This original research resulted in a book, The State and Small-Scale Fisheries in Puerto Rico, published by the University Press of Florida in 2005.

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