The Mystery of the Kibbutz

The Mystery of the Kibbutz PDF Author: Ran Abramitzky
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691202249
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
How the kibbutz movement thrived despite its inherent economic contradictions and why it eventually declined The kibbutz is a social experiment in collective living that challenges traditional economic theory. By sharing all income and resources equally among its members, the kibbutz system created strong incentives to free ride or—as in the case of the most educated and skilled—to depart for the city. Yet for much of the twentieth century kibbutzim thrived, and kibbutz life was perceived as idyllic both by members and the outside world. In The Mystery of the Kibbutz, Ran Abramitzky blends economic perspectives with personal insights to examine how kibbutzim successfully maintained equal sharing for so long despite their inherent incentive problems. Weaving the story of his own family’s experiences as kibbutz members with extensive economic and historical data, Abramitzky sheds light on the idealism and historic circumstances that helped kibbutzim overcome their economic contradictions. He illuminates how the design of kibbutzim met the challenges of thriving as enclaves in a capitalist world and evaluates kibbutzim’s success at sustaining economic equality. By drawing on extensive historical data and the stories of his pioneering grandmother who founded a kibbutz, his uncle who remained in a kibbutz his entire adult life, and his mother who was raised in and left the kibbutz, Abramitzky brings to life the rise and fall of the kibbutz movement. The lessons that The Mystery of the Kibbutz draws from this unique social experiment extend far beyond the kibbutz gates, serving as a guide to societies that strive to foster economic and social equality.

The Mystery of the Kibbutz

The Mystery of the Kibbutz PDF Author: Ran Abramitzky
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691202249
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Get Book Here

Book Description
How the kibbutz movement thrived despite its inherent economic contradictions and why it eventually declined The kibbutz is a social experiment in collective living that challenges traditional economic theory. By sharing all income and resources equally among its members, the kibbutz system created strong incentives to free ride or—as in the case of the most educated and skilled—to depart for the city. Yet for much of the twentieth century kibbutzim thrived, and kibbutz life was perceived as idyllic both by members and the outside world. In The Mystery of the Kibbutz, Ran Abramitzky blends economic perspectives with personal insights to examine how kibbutzim successfully maintained equal sharing for so long despite their inherent incentive problems. Weaving the story of his own family’s experiences as kibbutz members with extensive economic and historical data, Abramitzky sheds light on the idealism and historic circumstances that helped kibbutzim overcome their economic contradictions. He illuminates how the design of kibbutzim met the challenges of thriving as enclaves in a capitalist world and evaluates kibbutzim’s success at sustaining economic equality. By drawing on extensive historical data and the stories of his pioneering grandmother who founded a kibbutz, his uncle who remained in a kibbutz his entire adult life, and his mother who was raised in and left the kibbutz, Abramitzky brings to life the rise and fall of the kibbutz movement. The lessons that The Mystery of the Kibbutz draws from this unique social experiment extend far beyond the kibbutz gates, serving as a guide to societies that strive to foster economic and social equality.

Family and Community in the Kibbutz

Family and Community in the Kibbutz PDF Author: Yonina Garber-Talmon
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674292765
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Some fundamental questions about the individual and the family in communal life are raised in this first collection of essays in English by Israeli sociologist Yonina Talmon. The author, who hitherto has been known to students of revolutionary and collectivist societies mainly through her journal articles, was engaged in an extensive study of the kibbutz at the time of her death in 1966. The decade of research conducted in representative kibbutzim, in cooperation with the Federation of Kevutzot and Kibbutzim, included interviews with kibbutz members as well as observation of kibbutz life. The author gives here a general report on the findings, followed by the results of seven specific investigations that shed light on major problems of many societies: social structure and family size; children's sleeping and family eating arrangements; occupational placement of the second generation; mate selection; aging; social differentiation; and secular asceticism. "This collection of essays," writes S. N. Eisenstadt in his Introduction, "represents a landmark in the development of the sociological study of the kibbutz movement." Yonina Talmon's "work not only opened up the kibbutz to sociological research, but put the research on kibbutz life in the forefront or sociological thinking and analysis."

One Hundred Years of Kibbutz Life

One Hundred Years of Kibbutz Life PDF Author: Michal Palgi
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 1412845564
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 363

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Book Description
The years 1909-2009 mark a century of kibbutz life—one hundred years of achievements, failures, and challenges. It is undeniable that the impact of kibbutzim on Israeli society has been substantial. During its one hundred years of existence, the kibbutz as a concept and as a reality underwent many changes, as did Israel as a whole both before its establishment in 1948 and since then. One Hundred Years of Kibbutz Life describes a host of changes that have occurred and describes their meaning. The kibbutz population has increased in terms of demography and capital, a point that frequently is overlooked in the debate about the institution’s viability. The kibbutz has become a very attractive place for young people who want community life. Like the founders who tried to establish a particular society grounded in certain principles, so too, newcomers to the kibbutz want to establish a new idealistic society with specific social and economic arrangements. The combined voices of the contributors to this volume discuss the ideals, hopes, frustrations, disappointments, and reconstruction efforts that brought a few solutions to the fading kibbutz ideals. These solutions are not always popular among kibbutz members, but they demonstrate growth and development of the kibbutz. Through the inclusion of a variety of studies, this book clarifies the role of this dynamic institution.

A Living Revolution

A Living Revolution PDF Author: James Horrox
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781904859925
Category : Anarchism
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
An exploration of the influences on Israel's early kibbutz movement.

Women in the Kibbutz

Women in the Kibbutz PDF Author: Lionel Tiger
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
"Our data show that although some 10 to 15 per cent of the women in the kibbutz express dissatisfaction with their sociosexual roles, the overwhelming majority not only accept their situations but have sought them. They have acted against the principles of their socialization and ideology, against the wishes of the men of their communities, against the economic interest of the kibbutzim, in order to be able to devote more time and energy to private maternal activities rather than to economic and political public ones. Obviously these women have minds of their own; despite obstacles, they are trying to accomplish what women elsewhere have been periodically urged to reject by critics of traditional female roles." -- from the book

Chasing Utopia

Chasing Utopia PDF Author: David Leach
Publisher: ECW Press
ISBN: 1770909389
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description
A fascinating, non-partisan exploration of an incendiary region Say the word “Israel” today and it sparks images of walls and rockets and a bloody conflict without end. Yet for decades, the symbol of the Jewish State was the noble pioneer draining the swamps and making the deserts bloom: the legendary kibbutznik. So what ever happened to the pioneers’ dream of founding a socialist utopia in the land called Palestine? Chasing Utopia: The Future of the Kibbutz in a Divided Israel draws readers into the quest for answers to the defining political conflict of our era. Acclaimed author David Leach revisits his raucous memories of life as a kibbutz volunteer and returns to meet a new generation of Jewish and Arab citizens struggling to forge a better future together. Crisscrossing the nation, Leach chronicles the controversial decline of Israel’s kibbutz movement and witnesses a renaissance of the original vision for a peaceable utopia in unexpected corners of the Promised Land. Chasing Utopia is an entertaining and enlightening portrait of a divided nation where hope persists against the odds.

Growing Up Below Sea Level

Growing Up Below Sea Level PDF Author: Rachel Biale
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781942134633
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
An informative memoir of kibbutz life that reveal a piece of Israel's early story that should not be forgotten.

The Kibbutz

The Kibbutz PDF Author: Daniel Gavron
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780847695263
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Focusing on the human story, journalist Daniel Gavron movingly portrays the fears, regrets and hopes of members of kibbutzim ranging from traditional to modern and agricultural to urban.

Murder on a Kibbutz

Murder on a Kibbutz PDF Author: Batya Gur
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062970399
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
From award-winning and internationally acclaimed author, Batya Gur, comes another twisty mystery featuring charming Israeli investigator Michael Ohayon. Michael Ohayon must once again solve a murder that has taken place within a complex, closed society: the kibbutz. As he investigates, he uncovers more and more of the kibbutz’s secrets, exposing all the contradictions of this idealized way of life. Murder on a Kibbutz showcases once again Batya Gur’s storytelling talents in a thrilling mystery that readers will not soon forget.

Mourning a Father Lost

Mourning a Father Lost PDF Author: Abraham Balaban
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742529229
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Returning to the kibbutz of his childhood to attend his father's funeral, Avraham Balaban confronts his buried yet still intensely painful childhood memories. Comparing the kibbutz of today with that of his early years, the author weaves together two interrelated stories: a sensitive artist growing up in the intensely pragmatic world of Kibbutz Huldah and the rise and fall of a grand yet failed social experiment. As he moves through the seven days of sitting shivah for his father, Balaban experiences an expanding cycle of mourning--for self, family, the kibbutz, and Israel itself. With a poet's keen voice, Balaban pens a poignant, frank portrait of the emotional damage wrought by the kibbutz educational system, which separated children from their parents, hoping to establish a new kind of family, a nonbiological family. Indeed, he realizes that he is mourning not the physical death of his father, but the much earlier death of the father-child bond. Only the unwavering love of his remarkable mother rescued him. Readers will see the kibbutz movement, and Israel in general, with new eyes after finishing this book. In the process of unearthing his earliest memories, Balaban meditates on the mechanism of memory and the forces that shape it. Thus, he examines the varied layers--familial, societal, and national--that establish individual identity. During the shivah, he discovers the tremendous power of words in shaping one's world, on the one hand, and their redemptive power on the other.