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Summary
Examines kibbutz life following the Israeli economic crisis of 1985, focusing on the kibbutz's dramatic transformation from a well-defined social structure to a collective identified principally by its cultural preoccupations.
This book examines kibbutz life following the Israeli economic crisis of 1985, focusing on the kibbutz's dramatic transformation from a well-defined social structure to a collective identified principally by its cultural preoccupations. It centers on the contradictions endemic to kibbutz identity. Ben-Rafael shows how the crisis brought together a general pro-change Zeitgeist with the interests of the kibbutz's stronger social segments and individuals to produce widespread changes and the fragmentation of kibbutz reality as a whole. The book's findings are based on a large-scale research investigation (1991-1994) headed up by Ben-Rafael that included twenty research studies and involved the participation of researchers from diverse social-science disciplines. The book also provides a statistical abstract and a comprehensive kibbutz bibliography.
"In the field of kibbutz studies, this will be the most important book of the decade. Anyone with a general interest in Israel is likely to be interested in reading this book as well. The family, gender, education, economy, and polity are handled with a remarkable degree of competence and thoroughness. There are few scholars who could handle so much diverse material as well." -- Raymond Russell,University of California, Riverside
"An important contribution to the study of the kibbutz. The topic is significant and important for several fields of study, such as the study of Israel, the study of communal and alternative societies and organizations, and the study of postmodernism." -- Menachem Rosner, Institute for Research on the Kibbutz and the Cooperative Idea, University of Haifa
"This book is excellent in all areas--philosophy, theory, data, contemporary issues, and analytical insights. The high intellectual tone and the specific topic, I believe, make the book most interesting and unique." -- Efraim Ben-Zadok, Florida Atlantic University
Eliezer Ben-Rafael is Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Tel-Aviv University. He is the author or co-author of eleven other books, the most recent of which is Language, Identity, and Social Division: The Case of Israel, and is National Chairperson of the Israel Sociological Society.
Table of Contents
List of Tables
Preface
1. Kibbutz Identity
The Reality of Utopia
Social Change and Transformation
The Identity Dilemmas of the Kibbutznik
The Expectations of the Investigation
2. The Crisis
Human and Economic Resources
Building Power — and Losing it
From the Political Setback to the Economic Crisis
Questioning the Kibbutz Identity
3. A Shattered Community
Status, Conflict, and Change
Forces of De-collectivization
Socialization and Discontinuation
The New Kind of Social Obligation
4. Kibbutz Capitalism Challenged
A Socialism De-luxe
Changes in the Kibbutz Enterprise
Commercialization, Privatization and Security
Toward Recovery?
5. Kibbutz and Society
The Dilemmas of Elitism
Toward Pluralism
A New Type of Kibbutz Movement?
6. Behind the Transformation
Aspirations for Change
The Social Distribution of Aspirations
In Conclusion
7. Implementing Change
Investigating Social Transformation
Categories of Kibbutzim
The Politics of Change
The Vicissitudes of Implementing Change
In Conclusion
8. The Transformation of Identity
The Context of Crisis
Old Dilemmas in New Terms
The Role of the Technocrats
Social Cohesion and Fragmentation
The Revenge and Reality of the Anarchist Utopia
Appendix 1: Correlation Analyses
Appendix 2: Statistical Abstract—The Kibbutzim in the 1990s
