The Communal Experience of the Kibbutz - Hardcover

Joseph Blasidocuments and describes the workings of an existing kibbutz society to provide a model for Utopian thinking and clear up confusion con­cerning 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, edu­cation, and attitudes of community members.Despite its advantages as a model Utopia, the kibbutz is not a perfect soci­ety. 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, il­luminating the interlocking dilemmas that cut across social and political con­cerns.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 kib­butz, 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 West­ern peoples can readily visualize as a real option.

Joseph Blasi is director of the Project for Kibbutz Studies, Center for Jewish Studies, Harvard University and lecturer in social studies and research associate in Jewish studies at Harvard. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the kibbutz, worker ownership and participation, and the sociology of work and community, including The Kibbutz: A Bibliography of Scientific and Professional Publications in English and Sexual Equality: The Israeli Kibbutz Tests the Theories.