Aspiring toward decency: Collectively and creatively appropriating information communication technology in Havana

We examine how people collectively and creatively appropriate information communication technology (ICT) in Havana, Cuba, to navigate persistent scarcity and pursue a more stable life. Drawing on interviews and ethnographic data, we center resolver —an emic term for both an informal acquisition process and a problem-solving mindset—as a dynamic, collective strategy. This practice underpins aspirations for a “decent” life, locally understood as adequacy, stability, and solidarity. Our findings show ICT appropriation is deeply intertwined with evolving moral judgments and solidarity, requiring continual negotiation of legality, necessity, and communal values. Rather than uniformly empowering, ICT use mediates inclusion and exclusion, highlighting new forms of inequality. By theorizing resolver as a recursive and context-dependent process, we provide an analytical lens for examining how digital technologies shape aspirations, collective life, and the boundaries of decency in resource-constrained environments.