Citation

Moret E. Bull. Latin Am. Res. 2008; 27(3): 333-350.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Society for Latin American Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1470-9856.2008.00273.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

‘Globalisation’, driven by neoliberal-based policies, can be seen to have significant impacts on ethnobotanical practices, particularly through the commercialisation of traditional knowledge and rise in identity-based social movements. Despite its relative political and economic isolation in comparison to more ‘neoliberalised’ areas of Latin America, local-level shifts occurring in post-Soviet Cuba are similar to those occurring elsewhere in the region. Afro-Cuban ritual activities have proliferated, particularly in Havana, leading to an increased dependence on the rich magico-medicinal pharmacopoeias employed in hybridised religions such as santería and palo monte – suggesting that ‘globalisation’ may have profound, albeit indirect, implications for even the most economically marginalised countries such as Cuba.