Digital Inclusion in Cuba: Challenges, Transformations and Future Prospects

This thesis examines the dynamics of digital exclusion in contemporary Cuba, a society influenced by decades of centralised governance, economic challenges, and ideological control. Cubans have lived for over half a century under the American embargo and a communist political system. Despite Cuba's focus on education and social equity, the country has faced difficulties in addressing technological modernisation. Internet access, which became available to the population after 2013, has presented both opportunities and new inequalities. Using qualitative interviews with Cuban citizens and theoretical frameworks from Jan van Dijk, Ellen Helsper, and Pierre Bourdieu, this study investigates how digital access, skills, and sage are socially and politically mediated within the Cuban context. The study is informed by Panayiota Tsatsou's (2011a, 2011b) sociocultural-policy framework, which emphasises that digital inequalities are shaped by the interaction of sociocultural conditions, political environments and policy arrangements rather than by technological access alone. The aim is to explain for Cuba, the social meanings and consequences of accessing the Internet so late in comparison with much of the rest of the world. The study explores the nexus between the offline lives of Cubans and their ‘new’ existence online, with the introduction of Internet services. I have spent many hours interviewing fellow Cubans over five years. These in-depth interviews inquire about their lives off and online, their beliefs, activism, and involvement in the politics of their country, as well as how they use the new digital resource. I strived to understand the economic, emotional, cultural, social and digital resources of Cubans and ultimately establish a relation between these spheres. The analysis reveals a nuanced digital divide. The research identifies structural barriers to digital inclusion, such as high costs, limited infrastructure, and state control, as well as individual strategies of adaptation and resistance. Particular attention is paid to the role of alternative media, social networks, and the emerging digital civil society that has challenged the state's monopoly on information. The findings demonstrate how the digital realm in Cuba is both a contested space of surveillance and a vital platform for self-expression, solidarity, and limited autonomy. The conclusions derived from this study show a close relation between the politics of the country and the digital divide amongst users. Connectivity in Cuba is unaffordable, stressful, and limited, especially for those with less wealth, the most vulnerable. Acquiring digital technology costs more than the monthly salary of most nationals. The gap is also prominent between those who are granted access by the government and those who were prevented from using the Internet and now must pay such high rates for it. The thesis contributes to wider debates on digital inequality, state power, and technological agency in the Global South. It offers a case study of how digital inclusion unfolds under authoritarian conditions and underscores the socio-political stakes of internet access in contexts where information is tightly controlled. Ultimately, the study highlights the resilience of Cuban citizens as they navigate a rapidly changing media landscape. The study underscores the importance of understanding local contexts of digital engagement and the unique challenges faced by developing societies in the digital age, advocating for a rights-based approach to digital inclusion that empowers individuals to engage meaningfully in the digital landscape. The study has been an opportunity to explore shared meanings of the new digital opening in Cuba, with the aim of anticipating, gaining awareness of, and ultimately generating ideas on how to tackle digital inequality. I continue to think that Internet access, by generating the possibility of acquiring and sharing information from new perspectives, has the potential to be the most profound change experienced by Cubans since the Cuban Revolution.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Ph.D.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

PhD thesis

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Westminster

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Calderin Perez, Emma

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Verdegem, P.
• Michalis, M.

Identifier

oai:westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk:x79x2

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk:x79x2