The Israeli Kibbutz: From Utopia to Dystopia

Abstract

The Israeli Kibbutz has undoubtedly been one of the greatest utopian experiments in modern times. It should also be seen as part of the utopian tradition in Zionism. Utopia is in the first place a scheme for building a socially, economically and politically good society, in accordance with the supreme moral 'good'. Utopian visions, contrary to eschatological visions that seek to set aright the whole universe, including human society, do not transcend the possibilities of human nature. As such, they can become the content of social experiments. The Israeli kibbutzim constituted a radical transformation of human nature into a new, better nature: private property and exploitation were abolished; organizational aspects analogous to the state were also abolished; and labor was partially turned into non-instrumental activity. The Israeli welfare state created a supportive framework for the utopian experiment in the kibbutzim by reducing to power of the free market. In the mid-1990s the kibbutzim began, by their own free choice, to dismantle their utopian society and to adopt a partially capitalist way of life, thus changing their nature for the second time in a matter of 70-80 years. The destruction of the welfare state in Israel since the early 1980s has brought about-by encouraging non-utopian decisions-deep changes in kibbutz way of life: labor has become instrumental again; the 'state' has been introduced in the form of a professional management and a small community council that have replaced the traditional democratic bodies (the general assembly, etc.). The economic means, legally still common property, are controlled and abused by a small group that has encouraged the introduction of a differential wage system characterized by large gaps, which is all but exploitation. A relatively small stream in the kibbutz movement still adheres to the old, utopian way of life. Its fate depends to a large extent on the outcome of the struggle, led by this stream itself, to rebuild the country as a welfare state.