This book focuses on the kibbutz movement in Israel, and examines communal socialist industry and the consequences of its embeddedness within a national polity and the global market economy. As a consequence, the subject is firmly located within the debates about the internationalization of capitalism and parallel debates about the future of socialism within the global market economy. The text explores the management and organization of kibbutz industry as an essential feature of communal socialism.

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.

We think of the kibbutz as a place for communal living and working. Members work, reside, and eat together, and share income “from each according to ability, to each according to need.” But in the late 1980s the kibbutzim decided that they needed to change. Reforms—moderate at first—were put in place. Members could work outside of the organization, but wages went to the collective. Apartments could be expanded, but housing remained kibbutz-owned. In 1995, change accelerated. Kibbutzim began to pay salaries based on the market value of a member’s work. As a result of such changes, the “renewed” kibbutz emerged. By 2010, 75 percent of Israel’s 248 non-religious kibbutzim fit into this new category. This book explores the waves of reforms since 1990. Looking through the lens of organizational theories that predict how open or closed a group will be to change, the authors find that less successful kibbutzim were most receptive to reform, and reforms then spread through imitation from the economically weaker kibbutzim to the strong.

For a country smaller than Vermont, with roughly the same population as Honduras, modern Israel receives a remarkable amount of attention. For supporters, it is a unique bastion of democracy in the Middle East, while detractors view it as a racist outpost of Western colonialism. The romanticization of Israel became particularly prominent in 1967, when its military prowess shocked a Jewish world still reeling from the sense of powerlessness dramatized by the Holocaust. That imagery has grown ever more visible, with Israel’s supporters idealizing its technological achievements and its opponents attributing almost every problem in the region, if not beyond, to its imperialistic aspirations. The contradictions and competing views of modern Israel are the subject of this book. There is much to consider about modern Israel besides the Middle East conflict. Over the past generation, a substantial body of scholarship has explored numerous aspects of the country, including its approaches to citizenship and immigration, the arts, the women’s movement, religious fundamentalism, and language; but much of that work has to date been confined within the walls of the academy. This book does not seek not to resolve either the country’s internal debates or its struggle with the Arab world, but to present a sample of contemporary scholars’ discoveries and discussions about modern Israel in an accessible way. In each of the areas discussed, competing narratives grapple for prominence, and it is these which are highlighted in this volume.

Since the State of Israel was established, its labor force has grown rapidly and has become increasingly diverse in terms of its demographic, cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic characteristics. Israeli work values have shifted towards greater individualism, materialism, careerism, and preference for white-collar and knowledge-based occupations is evident. A major structural change is underway, as indicated by the decline of agriculture as a component in the Israeli economy and the growth of the industrial sector--mostly towards high technology and innovative enterprises.This volume sheds light on trends and developments that have been taking place in the realm of work in Israel in recent years. It contains a unique selection of articles presenting empirical evidence of the major features and important changes characterizing work organizations and the regime of work in Israeli society: labor relations, work values, power and management in organizations, work in the Kibbutz, inter-organizational relations, women and work, migrants and minorities in the Israeli labor force. Studies show that another two major trends characterize the contemporary economy and the labor market: the trend toward privatization and globalization, the results of which are a continuous decrease of job security and an increasing level of unemployed Israeli men and women that are replaced by the low-cost labor of foreign workers emigrating from third world countries.This timely volume is valuable for its contribution to illuminating the recent changes taking place in the realm of work in Israel, and will be of interest to sociologists, social scientists, and students of Judaica.

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.

The idea of a better society as associated with the communal idea is investigated from both theoretical perspectives and through contemporary experiences around the world. This idea leaves nobody indifferent. Whatever the hardship that its concretization implies, however, once it does materialize, it cannot, as such avoid new challenges, tensions and unexpected claims. This means, at varying degrees, negations of, and removals from, the “utopian inspiration”. Humans are able to create unprecedented conditions of life under most ambitious inspirations, but are unable to safeguard their achievements from change, alterations and contradictions. In this, however, another aspect of the utopian realizations is that they ultimately leave room for new utopist thinking and enrolment. As far, indeed, the utopian inspiration draws its vitality from potent civilizational codes, its renewal from ashes is as unavoidable as its self-betrayal through materialization. Contributors included: Eliezer Ben-Rafael, Rami Degany, Amitai Etzioni, Maria Fölling-Albers, Yiftah Goldman, Ruth Kark, Yossi Katz, John Lehr, Graham Meltzer, Bill Metcalf, Timothy Miller, Yaacov Oved, Michal Palgi, Donald E. Pitzer, Shulamit Reinharz, Lyman Tower Sargent, György Széll, Menachem Topel, Katherine Trebeck, and Chris Warhurst.