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Dissertation Defence: Solidarity between Cuba and the Saharawi Arab democratic republic: revolutionary friendship from 1975-1999
November 4 at 10:30 am - 2:30 pm
Rahel Losier, supervised by Dr. Jessica Stites Mor, will defend their dissertation titled “Solidarity between Cuba and the Saharawi Arab democratic republic: revolutionary friendship from 1975-1999” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies –Power, Conflict, and Ideas Theme.
An abstract for Rahel Losier’s dissertation is included below.
Examinations are open to all members of the campus community as well as the general public. Please email Jessica.Stites-Mor@ubc.ca to receive the Zoom link for this exam.
Abstract
Since 1977, approximately 7,000 Saharawi students, refugees from North Africa, have spent at least four years studying on scholarships across Cuba. Most of these students, now known as Cubarawis, spent their early adolescent years until their university graduation alongside thousands of other international students in Cuba. Despite an emerging research field exploring cooperation between Global South countries, little scholarship has investigated the intricacies of Cuban solidarity with the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), which extended across networks of education, health, international congresses, and diplomatic visits since 1975. This doctoral dissertation aims to fill this knowledge gap, examining the convergence between Cuban and Saharawi anti-colonial nationalism, through primarily health and educational cooperation programs, and to what extent these projects shaped each others’ revolutions. The Cuban solidarity program with the SADR will be explored as a site of transferring notions and projects of revolutionary statehood to peoples considered legally stateless, as a crucible for building a narrative of the Saharawi struggle, and as a mode of South-South solidarity in practice. The dissertation uses postcolonial and decolonial perspectives, and an analysis of cultural sources, including visual culture, to deconstruct the inner workings of Cuban solidarity with the SADR, revealing a
