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LITR 5439 Literary & Historical Utopias
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2nd Research Post 2011
Patrick Locke
Shifting Utopian Values on the Kibbutz
Prior to my web highlight presentation to the seminar on kibbutzim, my familiarity with kibbutzim was limited and did not include an awareness of their connection to historical utopias. While preparing for the presentation, I noticed an array of issues involving the concept of utopia in relation to kibbutzim. I was struck by the ways in which certain utopian conventions seem to deny the inevitable rise of self-interest. Utopian pursuits operate on an assumption that the individual will always forfeit a personal agenda for collective objectives. Perhaps the liability of utopian impulses is not that they do not work, but they continue to underestimate the appeal of self-interest in human nature. Challenges to the practicality of utopias begin with individual concerns and aspirations. If a utopian community faces a crisis of identity, can it change and evolve? A survey of kibbutzim reveals attempts to balance ideology, self-interest, and survival.
In the modern Israeli narrative, the
image of the kibbutz as both a symbol and part of a creation mythology has
always loomed large (Harris 115). Yet, these communities make up a small
percentage of the overall population. The term kibbutz (kibbutzim—plural)
identifies an intentional community in
The ideology of the early kibbutz was based on principles promoting the right of return of Jews to a single homeland, Zionism, and Marxist notions of productive labor, equality, and cooperation. Zionism has evolved over time and can mean many things to different groups, but fundamentally the concept is about a homeland return (http://www.zionism-israel.com/zionism_definitions.htm). The influence of Zionism remains unchanged; however, socialist notions and egalitarian assumptions were either adapted or changed to reflect changes inside the kibbutz to accommodate individual and family concerns. The impetus for kibbutzim had ambitions of going “beyond mathematical equality to ‘human equality’, taking into account discrepancies in biological, familial, and other circumstances . . . Everything was thoroughly democratic” (Muravchik 48). Although early kibbutzim followed their own imperatives, they all shared a commitment to communal work and ownership.
A close look at the individual in the kibbutz reveals ongoing adjustments throughout kibbutzim’s history. Individual identity and self-interest eventually challenged aspects of communal ideology. From the onset, the kibbutz had to “negotiate an endless chain of compromises between the stringent communistic ideals of its founders and . . . egoism that they could never fully eradicate” (Muravchik 51). At one point, early kibbutzim made the decision to renounce all personal possessions—even clothing. Items to be cleaned were brought to a central laundry site, and clean items of a similar size were received. This lasted a few years, but eventually changes were made to acknowledge the community wide disenchantment with this practice. Although clothing became individual property, they were often purchased in bulk. More concessions were made to allow for individual preferences, which started a system of cash allowances that would later be increased to include household furnishings and toiletries (Harris 51). The kibbutzim were able to create an environment supportive of certain ideals, but they had to make changes reflecting individual wishes or risk losing continuity.
The family structure is an important part of utopian ideology. One area in which a utopia strives to establish an egalitarian structure is through childrearing. In a kibbutz, children were “regarded by all members as the kibbutz son/daughter” (Schlesinger 772). Children lived with others of the same age in units of five or six under the care of members called metaplets. These caretakers were selected by the group and trained for the position. Part of the motive for this vision of childrearing was to create a supportive environment from infancy that would build and achieve “socialism’s perennial goal of a new man” (Muravchik 50). In terms of mental development and health, studies have shown little difference between children raised on the kibbutz and those raised in traditional families. However, their feelings in relationship with families and friends “are more moderate and not so focused on single individuals” (Ezri, http://equalpartners.ca/parenting/child-rearing-an-ancient-formula-iii-the-children-of-the-kibbutz/ )
From the memoir We Were the Future, reviewer Yehudah Mirsky describes the experience of children growing up on the kibbutz. She notes,
For the children, life on the kibbutz was a life of
regimentation: only two kinds of shoes allowed; no individual toys; morning
wake-ups by nannies clapping and exclaiming, “Good morning, children, three
soldiers killed along the
The policy of communal childrearing was one aspects of kibbutz socialism to eventually change. This policy started shifting in the 1970s.
The 1970s saw the shift to family sleeping in which children slept with their families instead of in a children’s home; however, some communities held out until the 1990s. The change required building larger living spaces and consequentially reorganizing public and private spaces further changing large group dynamics. Additional changes occurred to change the dynamics between the group and its families. More and more families prepared meals at the home instead of participating in communal meals.
Scholar Michael Harris suggests linking the establishment and development of kibbutz to utopian impulses limits the scope of understanding the past and present of the kibbutz (115). He proposes a view of kibbutzim through an open system approach. Such an approach allows a more expansive view of the kibbutz “as something that evolved within and in response to a set of changing environmental conditions, just like other organizations” (125). The organization’s survival depends on flexible responses throughout its history. A survey of the kibbutzim as a utopia reveals points in which changes were made to reflect the demands of the group.
Change is always inevitable; however, utopian narratives present an ideal looking back to an imperfect past to through an ideal present that remains fixed. The same vision for the present is held for the future. Outside the boundaries of a utopian text, the fault lines for change are set in the themes relating to the environment, the family, education, industry, economy, and the relationship of the individual to the group. The breaking point of many historical intentional communities from colonies to communes takes place along these lines. The ideology that nurtured the community’s creation must both expand the narrative and adjust to changes. A community that holds on to a romanticized narrative places itself at risk of being a failed experiment.
Works Cited
Harris, Michael. “The Kibbutz: Uncovering the Utopian Dimension.” Utopian Studies, vol. 10, issue 1, pp. 115-127. Print.
Muravchik, Joshua. “Socialism’s Last Stand.” Commentary, vol. 113, issue 3, pp. 47-53. Print.
Near, Henry. “Paths to Utopia: The Kibbutz as a Movement for Social Change.” Jewish Social Studies, vol. 48, issue 3/4, Summer/Fall 86, pp. 189-206. Print.
Sherwood, Harriet. “The kibbutz: 100 years old and facing an uncertain future.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/13/kibbutz-100-years-old-uncertain-future
Schelessinger, Yaffa. “Sex Roles and Social Change in the Kibbutz.” Journal of Marriage and Family, vol. 39, no. 4, Nov. 1977, pp. 771-779. Print.
http://equalpartners.ca/parenting/child-rearing-an-ancient-formula-iii-the-children-of-the-kibbutz/
http://www.jewishideasdaily.com/content/module/2011/6/2/main-feature/1/we-were-the-future
http://www.kibbutz.org.il/eng/
http://www.zionism-israel.com/zionism_definitions.htm
