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.
- ISBN10 0791432254
- ISBN13 9780791432259
- Publish Date 27 February 1997 (first published 24 January 1997)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 1 August 2014
- Publish Country US
- Imprint State University of New York Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 282
- Language English