Religious ‘Speculation’: The Rise of Ifá Cults and Consumption in Post-Soviet Cuba

Abstract

With an ethnographic focus on the prestigious cult of Ifá, this article seeks to account for the recent effervescence of Afro-Cuban cult worship in urban Cuba. It is argued that, since worship involves a marked emphasis on ritual consumption, the cult's rise can be related to wider transformations that have taken place in the field of everyday consumption in Havana during the economic crisis that has followed the collapse of the Soviet bloc. In particular, Ifá has provided an arena for what habaneros call ‘especulación’, a style of conspicuous consumption that has become prevalent among so-called ‘marginal’ groups in recent years.