Leiden University Student Repository

Adamou, Andriana (2017)

The Social Construction of Charisma: Cuba and the case of Fidel Castro

Master thesis | International Relations (MA)

Fidel Castro’s leadership and legacy in Cuba has been a fascinating and mystifying topic of matter in the field of International Relations. Much has been written and contended on how Fidel came to be the charismatic leader of Cuba and how he was able to maintain staying power and achieve legitimacy. The concepts of authority and legitimacy are attributed to the phenomenon of leadership and development of a society. This thesis will look at the roles of society, of Cuba in the twentieth century, and discourse and visual elements in the social construction of charisma in Fidel’s leadership. In addition, there will be an overview of Fidel’s background and how the approaches of gender, age, class, and race facilitated the social construction of Fidel’s charismatic leadership and the social reality of Cuba. The theoretical framework of constructivism and the methodological approach of content analysis will be utilized in order to examine how Fidel go to be the charismatic leader of Cuba.

Fidel Castro

charisma

content analysis

visual studies

legitimacy

authority

Author

Adamou, Andriana

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

MAIS

Supervisors

Idarraga, Nicolas Rodriguez

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en