WHERE COMMUNITY HAPPENS WHERE COMMUNITY HAPPENS In reaction to the spread of globalization, recent years have seen considerable growth in the number of intentional communities established across the world. In this collection of articles and lectures, many of them previously unpublished in English, the author analyzes various aspects of the philosophy of the kibbutz W THE KIBBUTZ AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF COMMUNALISM and draws parallels with other societies and philosophical trends, in the hope that a close look at the ways of thought of the kibbutz – arguably the best- HERE established communalist society – may help other communalists crystallize their own social philosophies. Utopian thought and communal experience are brought to life through the extensive use of the voices of some of the most influential thinkers and kibbutz members of the past hundred years, including CO Martin Buber and David Ben Gurion. “Henry Near has spent a lifetime studying utopianism and intentional MMUNIT communities, with a special focus on the kibbutzim of Israel, of which he is the leading historian. This book brings together his thoughtful reflections on the kibbutzim and related topics. It will long be a benchmark in its field.” Tim Miller, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Kansas “As a distinguished scholar and long-time kibbutznik, communal historian and Y H philosopher Henry Near offers that all too rare combination of passion and balance, vision and realism. This timely book is an invaluable case study of the kibbutz in a broader, comparative perspective including Christian monasteries, APPENS Hutterite colonies, and New Age communes. It offers a goldmine of new evidence and mature wisdom, of value to historians, social scientists, humanists, and partisans of gender equality, youth empowerment, and cooperative alternatives for the twenty-first century. No student of intentional communities can afford to ignore Near’s penetrating analysis of the kibbutz as a ‘post-utopian’ society. Where Community Happens is a must-read for students and scholars of communal utopianism.” HENRY HENRY Michael S. Cummings, Professor of Political Science, University of Colorado, Denver Henry Near was born in England, and has a BA and MA in philosophy and N ancient history from the University of Oxford. In 1955 he emigrated to Israel, and EAR since then has been a member of Kibbutz Beit Ha’emek in Western Galilee. After a decade of agricultural work he began an academic career with a PhD in political science and the history of Israel from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has taught at the Hebrew University, the University of Haifa and Oranim College, and is currently an Emeritus Professor. His research and teaching have focussed mainly on the history of modern Israel, and in particular on the history and ideology of the kibbutz. ISBN 978-3-0343-0133-6 HenrY Near Ralahine Utopian Studies - Volume Nine www.peterlang.com Peter Lang WHERE COMMUNITY HAPPENS WHERE COMMUNITY HAPPENS In reaction to the spread of globalization, recent years have seen considerable growth in the number of intentional communities established across the world. In this collection of articles and lectures, many of them previously unpublished in English, the author analyzes various aspects of the philosophy of the kibbutz W THE KIBBUTZ AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF COMMUNALISM and draws parallels with other societies and philosophical trends, in the hope that a close look at the ways of thought of the kibbutz – arguably the best- HERE established communalist society – may help other communalists crystallize their own social philosophies. Utopian thought and communal experience are brought to life through the extensive use of the voices of some of the most influential thinkers and kibbutz members of the past hundred years, including CO Martin Buber and David Ben Gurion. “Henry Near has spent a lifetime studying utopianism and intentional MMUNIT communities, with a special focus on the kibbutzim of Israel, of which he is the leading historian. This book brings together his thoughtful reflections on the kibbutzim and related topics. It will long be a benchmark in its field.” Tim Miller, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Kansas “As a distinguished scholar and long-time kibbutznik, communal historian and Y H philosopher Henry Near offers that all too rare combination of passion and balance, vision and realism. This timely book is an invaluable case study of the kibbutz in a broader, comparative perspective including Christian monasteries, APPENS Hutterite colonies, and New Age communes. It offers a goldmine of new evidence and mature wisdom, of value to historians, social scientists, humanists, and partisans of gender equality, youth empowerment, and cooperative alternatives for the twenty-first century. No student of intentional communities can afford to ignore Near’s penetrating analysis of the kibbutz as a ‘post-utopian’ society. Where Community Happens is a must-read for students and scholars of communal utopianism.” HENRY HENRY Michael S. Cummings, Professor of Political Science, University of Colorado, Denver Henry Near was born in England, and has a BA and MA in philosophy and N ancient history from the University of Oxford. In 1955 he emigrated to Israel, and EAR since then has been a member of Kibbutz Beit Ha’emek in Western Galilee. After a decade of agricultural work he began an academic career with a PhD in political science and the history of Israel from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has taught at the Hebrew University, the University of Haifa and Oranim College, and is currently an Emeritus Professor. His research and teaching have focussed mainly on the history of modern Israel, and in particular on the history and ideology of the kibbutz. HenrY Near Ralahine Utopian Studies - Volume Nine www.peterlang.com Peter Lang WHERE COMMUNITY HAPPENS Ralahine Utopian Studies Series editors: Raffaella Baccolini (University of Bologna, at Forlì) Joachim Fischer (University of Limerick) Michael J. Griffin (University of Limerick) Tom Moylan (University of Limerick) Volume 9 PETER LANG Oxford l Bern l Berlin l Bruxelles l Frankfurt am Main l New York l Wien Henry Near WHERE COMMUNITY HAPPENS THE KIBBUTZ AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF COMMUNALISM PETER LANG Oxford l Bern l Berlin l Bruxelles l Frankfurt am Main l New York l Wien Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek A catalogueAn record electronic for this version book of is this available book is fromfreely the available, British Library. thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a Library of Congresscollaborative Cataloging-in-Publication initiative designed to makeData: high quality books Open Access for the public good. More information about the initiative and linksNear,A catalogue to Henry.the Open record Access for this version book can is available be found fromat www.knowledgeunlatched.org. the British Library. Where community happens : the kibbutz and the philosophy of Open Access: The online version of this publication is published on BibliographiccommunalismLibrary of Congress /information Henry Cataloging-in-Publication Near. published by Die Data:Deutsche Nationalbibliothek www.peterlang.comBibliographic information and www.econstor.eu published by Die under Deutsche the international Nationalbibliothek Creative Bibliographic p. cm. -- information(Ralahine utopian published studies by ; Die9) Deutsche Nationalbibliothek CommonsNear, Henry. License CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. Learn more on how you can use and shareBibliographic Includes this work:bibliographical information https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. references published and by Dieindex. Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Bibliographic Where community information happens published : the kibbutz by Die and Deutsche the philosophy Nationalbibliothek of Bibliographic ISBN 978-3-0343-0133-6 information published (alk. paper) by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek communalism1. Kibbutzim--History. / Henry Near.2.All Kibbutzim--Social versions of this work conditions. may contain 3. content ACollective catalogue p. cm. settlements--History. --record (Ralahine for this utopianreproduced book I. Title.studiesis available under ; 9) license from thefrom British third parties.Library. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A HX742.2.A3N34Includes catalogue bibliographical record for2011 thisPermission references book is available to and reproduce index. from thisthe third-partyBritish Library. content must Library 307.77’6--dc22ISBN of978-3-0343-0133-6 Congress Cataloging-in-Publicationbe obtained (alk. paper) from these Data: third-parties directly. LibraryA catalogue of Congress record forCataloging-in-Publication this book is available fromData: the British Library. A 1. catalogue Kibbutzim--History. record for 2.this Kibbutzim--Socialbook is available conditions.2010053230from the British 3. Library. ALibrary catalogue of Congress record forCataloging-in-Publication this book is available fromData: the British Library. Near,Collective Henry. settlements--History. I. Title. Near,Library Henry. of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Near,Library WhereHX742.2.A3N34 Henry. of community Congress Cataloging-in-Publicationhappens2011