LITR 5737: Literary & Historical Utopias
Historical Presentation 2007
Gordon Lewis
Kibbutzim of Israel
· The kibbutz (Hebrew word for "communal settlement") is a unique rural community; a society dedicated to mutual aid; a socioeconomic system based on the principles of:
o joint ownership of property
o equality and cooperation of production, consumption and education
o the fulfillment of the idea "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs"
o a home for those who have chosen it.
The kibbutz functions as a direct democracy. The general assembly of all its members formulates policy, elects officers, authorizes the kibbutz budget and approves new members. It serves also as a forum where members may express their opinions and views.
The first kibbutzim (plural of 'kibbutz') were founded some 40 years before the establishment of the State of Israel (1948). Degania (from the Hebrew “dagan,” meaning grain), located south of Lake Kinneret, was established in 1909 by a group of pioneers on land acquired by the Jewish National Fund, population 12.
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· Their founders were young Jewish pioneers, mainly from Eastern Europe, who came not only to reclaim the soil of their ancient homeland, but also to forge a new way of life. The early settlers faced:
o a hostile environment
o inexperience with physical labor
o a lack of agricultural know-how
o desolate land neglected for centuries
o scarcity of water
o shortage of funds
· Today some 270 kibbutzim, with memberships ranging from 40 to more than 1,000, are scattered throughout the country. Most of them have between 300 and 400 adult members, and a population of 500-600.
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· The number of people living in kibbutzim totals approximately 130,000, about 2.5 percent of the country's population.
Organization
· Most kibbutzim are laid out according to a similar plan. The residential area encompasses;
o carefully-tended members' homes and gardens
o children's houses and playgrounds for every age group
o communal facilities such as a dining hall, auditorium, library, swimming pool, tennis court, medical clinic, laundry, grocery and the like.
o Adjacent to the living quarters are sheds for dairy cattle and modern chicken coops
o one or more industrial plants
o Agricultural fields, orchards and fish ponds are located around the perimeter, a short tractor ride from the center
o To get from place to place within the kibbutz, people either walk or ride bicycles, while electric carts are provided for the disabled and elderly.
Golan Plastic Products
· Production activities of the kibbutzim are organized in several autonomous branches. While most of them are still in agriculture, today virtually all kibbutzim have also expanded into various kinds of industry.
· Most industrial facilities are rather small, with less than a hundred workers. Manufacturing a wide range of products, from fashion clothing to irrigation systems, the majority of kibbutz industry is concentrated in three main branches:
o metal work,
o plastics
o processed foods.
In many areas, kibbutzim have pooled their resources, establishing regional enterprises such as cotton gins and poultry-packing plants, providing a gamut of services ranging from computer data compilation to joint purchasing and marketing.
Kibbutzim have become centers for tourism, with recreational facilities such as guest houses, swimming pools, horseback riding, tennis courts, museums, exotic animal farms and water parks for Israelis and foreign visitors alike.
The contribution of the kibbutzim to the country's production is far greater than their share of the population (2.5 percent).
o agriculture (33 percent of farm produce)
o industry (6.3 percent of manufactured goods)
Schools
Elementary schools are usually on the kibbutz premises, while older children attend a regional kibbutz high school serving several area kibbutzim, in order to experience a broader range of academic subjects and social contacts.
Children in the majority of kibbutzim today sleep at their parents' home. Most of their waking hours are still spent with their peers in facilities adapted specifically for each age group.
Children grow up knowing the value and importance of work and that everyone must do their share. From kindergarten, the educational system emphasizes cooperation in daily life.
From the early school grades, youngsters are assigned duties. Young children perform regular age-appropriate tasks and older children assume certain jobs in the kibbutz.
At high school level, they devote one full day each week to work in a branch of the kibbutz economy.
Some 40 percent of all kibbutz children return to settle on their kibbutz after army service. The majority of kibbutz members today grew up in the kibbutz and decided to build their life there.
· The kibbutz is a communal society. It is a society that strives to allow individuals to develop to their fullest potential, while demanding responsibility and commitment from each person to contribute to the welfare of the community.
· The communal kitchen provides food for the community, and most meals are taken in the communal dining-room.
· At first kibbutz society as a whole took precedence over the family unit. In time, this priority shifted, as the community became increasingly family-centered. Today, in the context of a normal society of grandparents, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, sons and daughters, the kibbutz still offers a level of cooperation which provides a social framework and personal economic security.
History
· The kibbutz is not only a form of settlement and a lifestyle, it is also an integral part of Israeli society. Before the establishment of the State of Israel and in the first years of statehood, the kibbutz assumed central functions in settlement, immigration, defense and agricultural development.
· The first kibbutzniks hoped to be more than plain farmers in Palestine and for more than a Jewish homeland there: they wanted to create a new type of society where there would be no exploitation of anyone and where all would be equal.
· The early kibbutzniks wanted to be both free from working for others and from the guilt of exploiting hired work.
· Thus was born the idea that Jews would band together, holding their property in common, "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."
Today
· The main changes in the past few years are in the areas of consumption: along with enlarging the individual member's freedom of choice and control over his budget.
· Some places have reduced the responsibility of the Kibbutz for each individual within it, and have adopted measures of reward that diminish equality and create differentiation.
· Development of industry and rise in the level of education were accompanied by changes in the structure of employment, change in organization of the economy, in management structure that turns from common and horizontal to hierarchic and centralist.
· As a result of demographic changes and stratified differentiation, the type of democracy in social systems has changed and direct participation democracy has been replaced by representative bodies and ballot voting.
· More and more kibbutzim are separating economic-business management from the social system, directorates with external directors are taking the place of the Kibbutz committees, and ways of differential reward by seniority, function and effort have here and there entered kibbutzim along with personal pensions.
· Weakening observance of the principles of self-labor has accelerated the percentage of hired workers in Kibbutz industries
Objective 3: Given the fact that utopian communities always fail (usually sooner rather than later), what historical critique of utopias is possible beyond “They don’t work” or “It’s futile?” (For instance, the fact that utopias always fail depends on the prior fact that people continue to imagine or attempt utopias.)
3a. What relations develop between fictional and actual utopian communities? What has been the historical impact of utopian fictions?
3e. What social structures, units, or identities does utopia expose, extend, or frustrate? What changes in child-rearing, feeding, marriage, aging, etc. result? (Social units or structures: person-individual, gender, sex, family [nuclear or extended], community, village/town/city, class, ethnicity, farm, region, tribe, clan, union, nation, ecosystem, planet.)
Other
Most kibbutzim belong to one of three national kibbutz movements, each identified with a particular ideology.