Crisis and Transformation - The Kibbutz at Century's End

This book examines kibbutz life following the Israeli economic crisis of 1985, focusing on the kibbutz's dramatic transformation from a well-defined social structure to a collective identified principally by its cultural preoccupations. It centers on the contradictions endemic to kibbutz identity. Ben-Rafael shows how the crisis brought together a general pro-change Zeitgeist with the interests of the kibbutz's stronger social segments and individuals to produce widespread changes and the fragmentation of kibbutz reality as a whole. The book's findings are based on a large-scale research investigation (1991-1994) headed up by Ben-Rafael that included twenty research studies and involved the participation of researchers from diverse social-science disciplines. The book also provides a statistical abstract and a comprehensive kibbutz bibliography.

About the author

Eliezer Ben-Rafael is Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Tel-Aviv University. He is the author or co-author of eleven other books, the most recent of which is Language, Identity, and Social Division: The Case of Israel, and is National Chairperson of the Israel Sociological Society.

Product details

• Authors: Eliezer Ben-Rafael
• Publisher: Global Academic Publishing
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 27.02.1997
• EAN: 9780791432259
• ISBN: 978-0-7914-3225-9
• No. of pages: 282
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 25 mm
• Weight: 581 g
• Series: Suny Series in Israeli Studies; SUNY series in Israeli Studies; Suny Israeli Studies
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories