The Communal Experience of the Kibbutz

The Communal Experience of the Kibbutz
ISBN-10
0887380565
ISBN-13
9780887380563
Category
History
Pages
210
Language
English
Published
1986
Publisher
Transaction Pub
Author
Joseph R. Blasi

Description

Joseph Blasidocuments and describes the workings of an existing kibbutz society to provide a model for Utopian thinking and clear up confusion con�cerning Utopian values. He details the history and development of Kibbutz Vatik (a pseudonym), providing a systematic record of kibbutz culture: daily life and social arrangements, economic cooperation and work, politics, edu�cation, and attitudes of community members. Despite its advantages as a model Utopia, the kibbutz is not a perfect soci�ety. Having eliminated the most serious forms of social, economic, political, and educational fragmentation and violence, the communal group is left with the complicated and mounting problems of keeping a fellowship alive and well. Blasi assesses the community's advantages and disadvantages, il�luminating the interlocking dilemmas that cut across social and political con�cerns. The Communal Experience of the Kibbutz updates our knowledge of kibbutz life in light of recent research. It gives a detailed account of the Utopian community in the kibbutz and its activities. The special quality of the kib�butz, Blasi argues, lies not so much in its proven success vis-a-vis other communal societies, but in that it is a communal alternative that most West�ern peoples can readily visualize as a real option.

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