Communal Experience of the Kibbutz

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.