1939–
American sociologist who reopened the debate on the Cuban Revolution
In The Origins of the Cuban Revolution Reconsidered (2006) he cast the revolutionary leaders as autonomous actors pursuing their own ideological vision rather than a master plan, challenging the dominant reading.
Born in Marianao, Cuba, to Jewish immigrant parents from Poland. He joined the anti-Batista movement as a high school student, moved to the United States in 1958 and took his PhD in sociology at UC Berkeley in 1969. He taught at UCLA, SUNY-Old Westbury, Fairleigh Dickinson and Brooklyn College (CUNY), retiring in 2007, and has written on the Cuban Revolution, the Castro government, Soviet history and US politics from a left-wing, radical-democratic standpoint. No death record is confirmed.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1939Born in Marianao, Cuba
- 1950sTook part in the anti-Batista mass movement as a high school student
- 1958Moved to the United States
- 1969PhD in sociology, UC Berkeley
- 1976Published Revolution and Reaction in Cuba, 1933–1960
- 1990Published Before Stalinism
- 2006Published The Origins of the Cuban Revolution Reconsidered
- 2007Retired from Brooklyn College (CUNY)
Related historical events
Reinterpreting the Cuban Revolution, 1959–1961
In The Origins of the Cuban Revolution Reconsidered (2006), Farber examines 1959–1961 and challenges interpretations that treat the revolutionary leadership as merely reacting to US policy or domestic socioeconomic conditions. He argues that, despite serious constraints, the leaders pursued independent ideological visions, while stressing that these did not necessarily follow a pre-existing master plan. He situates their decisions within conflicts between US and Cuban interests, Cuba’s economic and political structure, and early Soviet assistance, explaining how a multiclass anti-dictatorial movement rapidly became a social revolution. This account resists reducing the revolution to a passive response to outside policy without equating leadership autonomy with a complete blueprint.