1st Edition

Sociology of the Kibbutz

Edited By Ernest Krausz Copyright 1983

    This is the second volume of the publication series of the Israeli Sociological Society, whose object is to identify and clarify the major themes that occupy social research in Israel today. Studies of Israeli Society gathers together the best of Israeli social science investigation, which was previously scattered in a large variety of international jour-nals. Each book in the series is in-troduced by integrative essays.

    The contents of volume two focus on the sociology of a unique Israeli social institution—the kibbutz. Kib-butz society constitutes an impor-tant laboratory for the investigation of a variety of problems that have been of perennial concern to the social sciences. Topics in this volume include relevant contem-porary issues such as the dynamics of social stratification in a "classless" society, the function and status of the family in a revolutionary society, relations between generations, industrializa-tion in advanced rural communities, and collective economies versus the outside world. The questions of the concept and development of the kib-butz, social differentiation and socialization, and work and produc-tion within the kibbutz possess a significance far beyond their im-mediate social context. Does the kibbutz offer a model for an alter-native, communal lifestyle for the modern world? How has the kibbutz changed over the past decadeswithin the context of a rapidly modernizing Israeli society?

    Emphasizing the "nonfailure" of the kibbutz experiment and con-trasting it with many socialist, cooperative, and communal ex-periments that clearly did fail, Martin Buber, in his analysis, attributes this success to the kib-but/'s undogmatic character, its ability to adapt structures and in-stitutions to changing conditions, while preserving its essential values and ideals.

    This volume presents an excellent review of the social research under-taken on the kibbutz in the past decades, and provides an introduc-tion to the growing scientific literature on the kibbutz.

    Contributors: Melford E. Spiro, Menachem Rosner, Martin Buber, Joseph Ben-David, Daniel Katz, Naftali Golomb, Erik Cohen, Arye Fishman, Michael Saltman, S.N. Eisenstadt, Eva Rosenfeld, Amitai Etzioni, Ephraim Yuchtman, Eliezer Ben-Rafael, Nissim Cohen, Yonina Talmon-Garber, Joseph Shepher, Lionel Tiger, Edward C. Devereux, Reuben Kahane, Ivan Vallier, David Barkin, John W. Bennet, Yehuda Don, Uri Leviatan, Eliette Orchan, Shimon Shur and David Glanz.

    Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Thirty Years of Kibbutz Research 1 /Melf or d E. Spiro -- Social Research, Change, and the Kibbutz 7 /Menachem Rosner -- THE CONCEPT AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE KIBBUTZ -- An Experiment That Did Not Fail /Martin Buber -- The Kibbutz and the Moshav /Joseph Ben-David -- Integration, Effectiveness, and Adaptation in Social Systems: A Comparative Analysis of Kibbutzim Communities /Daniel Katz and Naftali Golomb -- The Structural Transformation of the Kibbutz /Erik Cohen -- The Religious Kibbutz: Religion, Nationalism, and Socialism -- in a Communal Framework /Aryei Fishman -- Legality and Ideology in the Kibbutz Movement /Michael Saltman -- Some Observations on Historical Changes in the Structure of Kibbutzim /S. N. Eisenstadt -- SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION -- Social Stratification in a "Classless" Society /Eva Rosenfeld -- The Functional Differentiation of Elites in the Kibbutz /Amitai Etzioni -- Reward Distribution and Work-Role Attractiveness in the Kibbutz: -- Reflections on Equity Theory /Ephraim Yuchtman -- Dynamics of Social Stratification in Kibbutzim /Eliezer Ben-Rafael -- Is Direct Democracy Feasible in Modern Society? The Lesson of the Kibbutz Experience /Menachem Rosner and Nissim Cohen -- FAMILY AND SOCIALIZATION -- Is the Family Universal?—The Israeli Case /Melf or d E. Spiro -- The Family in a Revolutionary Movement: The Case of the Kibbutz in Israel /Yonina Talmon-Garber -- Kibbutz and Parental Investment (Women in the Kibbutz Reconsidered) /Joseph Shepher and Lionel Tiger -- Relations between Generations in the Israeli Kibbutz /Erik Cohen and Menachem Rosner -- Socialization Practices of Parents, Teachers, and Peers in Israel: The Kibbutz versus the City /Edward C. D ever eux, Ron Shouval, Urie Bronfenbrenner, Robert R. Rodgers, Sophie Kav-Venaki, Elizabeth Kiely, Esther Karson -- The Committed: Preliminary Reflections on the Impact of the Kibbutz Socialization Pattern on Adolescents /Reuven Kahane -- WORK AND PRODUCTION -- Structural Differentiation, Production Imperatives, and Communal Norms: The Kibbutz in Crisis /Ivan Vallier -- Kibbutz and Colony: Collective Economies and the Outside World /David Barkin and John W. Bennet -- Industrialization in Advanced Rural Communities: The Israeli Kibbutz /Yehuda Don -- Organizational Effects of Managerial Turnover in Kibbutz Production Branches /Uri Leviatan -- Statistical Appendix /Eliette Orchan -- The Kibbutz: Selected Bibliography /Shimon Shur and David Glanz.

    Biography

    Ernest Krausz was an Israeli Professor of Sociology, Rector, and then Acting President at Bar Ilan University, and taught as well as a Professor at the Netanya Academic College.