JOURNAL OF RURAL COOPERATION Centre international de recherches sur les communautes cooperatives rurales International Research Centre on Rural Cooperative Communities ""!)'''''LI "",!)!) "'~'l1v 'vn~ '~'N~-"!111 t!)'~l1 CIRCOM VOLUME 24 No.1 1996 CIRCOM, International Research Centre on Rural Cooperative Communities was established in September 1965 in Paris. The purpose of the Centre is to provide a framework for investigations and research on problems concerning rural cooperative communities and publication of the results, to coordinate the exchange of information on current research projects and published works, and to encourage the organization of symposia on the problems of cooperative rural communities, as welI as the exchange of experts between different countries. Editorial Advisory Board BARRACLOUGH, Prof. Solon, UNRISD, PLANCK, Prof. Ulrich, Universitat Geneva, Switzerland. Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany. CERNEA, Prof. Michael, The World POCHET, Dr. Carlos A., Universidad Bank, Washington, DC, USA. Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica. CRAIG, Prof. Jack, York University, POHORYLES, Prof. Samuel, Tel Aviv Ontario, Canada. University, Israel. DON, Prof. Yehuda, Bar Ilan University, SAXENA, Dr. S.K., Markham, Ontario, Ramat Gan, Israel. Canada. FALS BORDA, Prof. Orlando, Punta de SCHIMMERLING, Prof. Hanus, Lanza Foundation, Bogota, Colombia. Agricultural University, Prague, Czech KLATZMANN, Prof. Joseph, Institut Republic. National Agronomique, Paris, France. SCHV ARTZER, Prof. Louis, Universidad MARON, Stanley, Kibbutz Maayan Zvi de Buenos Aires, Argentina. and Yad Tabenkin, Ramat Efal, Israel. SMITH, Prof. Louis, University College, NINOMIY A, Prof. Tetsuo, Kanazawa Dublin, Ireland. University, Japan. STAVENHAGEN, Dr. Rodolfo, EI PARIKH, Prof. Gokul 0., Sardar Patel Colegio de Mexico, Mexico. Institute of Economic and Social Research, STROPPA, Prof. Claudio, Universita di Ahmedabad, India. Pavia, Italy. Editor: Dr. Yair Levi Administrative Assistant: Daphna Bar-Nes CIRCOM Information for Subscribers: The Journal of Rural Cooperation is a semi-annual periodical, aimed at the pursuit of research in the field of rural cooperation. Editorial enquiries and other correspondence should be addressed to CIRCOM, Yad Tabenkin, Ramat Efal 52960, Israel (Fax: +972-3-5346376). Subscription rate: $23 per annum (plus $2.00 sea mail; $6.00 airmail). ISSN 0377-7480 Copyright © 1996 by Circom. Israel JOURNAL OF RURAL COOPERATION Vol. 24 No. 1 1996 CONTENTS Individualism vs Communalism, Inward vs Outward Orientation: A Kibbutz Perspective Editor's Note 3 1. ARTICLES Introduction Gil, E. The Individual within the Collective: A New Perspective ...................................... 5 Issues and Dilemmas in Communal Life Don, Y. The Importance of Behaving Altruistically: Altruism as an Efficiency Boosting Factor in the Kibbutz ........ 17 Utitz, Z. The Ideological Crisis of the Kibbutz Movement . 27 Avrahami, E. A Kibbutz Dilemma: Social Movement or Self- Interested Group? ................................ 31 Kressel, G.M. Reducing Collectivity in a Kibbutz ................. 35 The Kibbutz in a Broader Cooperative Perspective Levi, Y. Kibbutz, Cooperation and the Issue of Embeddedness 47 Russell, R. Individual vs Collective Forms of Sharing Ownership in Israel ......................................... 67 Assessing the Current Crisis Topel, M. Trends of Change in Kibbutzim .................... 87 2. BOOK REVIEWS Pestoff, V. Between Markets and Politics: Cooperatives in Sweden M. Rosner. .. 103 Russell, R. Utopia in Zion, The Israeli Experience with Worker Cooperatives S. Maron . .................. " ... ..... ............ 105 The World Bank Ukraine, The Agricultural Sector in Transition T. Kowalak . .. 106 3. CURRENT INFORMATION Dissertation Abstracts ................................................ 111 The Individual within the Collective: A New Perspective by Efraim Gil Governors State University, University Park, Illinois, USA Abstract In recent years, the seemingly inevitable struggle between individualism and collectivism has continued to intensify and accelerate both in the kibbutz movement and in the world at large. In the kibbutz, demands for individual rights, initiatives and rewards have increasingly challenged the original collectivist ideology upon which the kibbutz was founded. This paper presents an approach which can avoid the struggle between the individual and the collective. Instead of seeing the collective as a reaction against brutish individualism, the community becomes the "greenhouse", the support group and the family that nurtures the many positive aspirations of each of its individual members. In return, because of this loving support and nurturing, the individual views the collective as the base for development, to be nurtured and supported. In recent years, the seemingly inevitable struggle between individualism and communalism has continued to intensify and accelerate both in the kibbutz movement and in the world at large. In the kibbutz, demands for individual rights, initiatives and rewards have increasingly challenged the original collectivist ideology upon which the kibbutz was founded. These challenges have continued to erode the original collectivist values while strengthening those of individualism. While some see this as progress, others see it as a down-spiral, leading to a likely "triumph of capitalism" in the kibbutz movement. It is my own, personal, experience with kibbutz living that sensitized me to this issue and led me to reflect upon it over the years. As a member of an Aliyat Hanoar (Immigration of Youth Nuclei) group in Kibbutz Kfar Glickson, I appropriated the collectivist values of sharing, cooperation and mutual care. Yet, instinctively, and with increasing intensity, I rebelled against the ideologically mandated submergence of the individual, his interests, his aspirations and his personal growth and development. So I left. In America, I had a taste of both the benefits and the drawbacks of the ideology of individualism and its way of life, and did not like that either. In the sixties, I worked to attempt to establish a Walden Two type community in California, and in 1971, I helped found Neve Han and became its secretary. And again, the struggle within myself between the noble goals of Journal of Rural Cooperation, 24(1),1996:5-15 ISSN 0377-7480 © 6 E.Gi/ individual self-realization and the equally noble goals of collective responsibility, mutual care and cooperation, surfaced, intensified and made me reflect upon this difficult issue. Since leaving Neve Han in 1972, I have tried to examine (1) the basic values related to individualism vs collectivism as expressed in kibbutz ideology; (2) the origins of these values; (3) their effect on the growing struggle between the individual and the collective; and, (4) some possible solutions to this struggle. The results of my reflections and analysis of these issues are summarized in this paper. My goal here is to explore an approach which avoids the struggle between individualism and collectivism, while, placing the kibbutz, once again, in the forefront of a new way of life in which human beings can live together in individual and collective harmony. In order to explore the idea of an alternative relationship between the individual and the collective, it would be helpful, first to try to understand the causes and origins of the current struggle between collectivism and individualism. I will briefly explore the relevant aspects of past kibbutz ideology and its impact on this struggle. The collectivist ideologies First, then, is a brief look at the collectivist ideologies of Utopian socialism, and its values, since these provided some of the bases of kibbutz ideology. The collectivist ideologies of the 19th century were, in large measure, a response to the rampant individualism and class warfare of the industrial revolution, that allowed and encouraged a small minority of individuals, through the instruments of capital accumulation and supportive state power, to dominate and oppress a suffering and downtrodden majority. Individualism and catering to individual wants were viewed by many of the proponents of 19th century collectivist ideologies, as capitulating to, and encouraging, brutal competition for survival between individuals. The collective, from this perspective, was seen as a means of altering this nasty way of being, and any deviation from this new collective ideology towards any form of individualism, was seen as backsliding into the quagmire of a brutish nature. The utopian ideologies, from Fourier and Owen, to Proudhon and Kropotkin, believed that an ideological blueprint of the perfect social structure could be designed and, when implemented, would change the basic structure of the capitalist state. With some variations, the basic values and principles emerging from these and other socialist thinkers included the following values: • Introduction of change through the establishment of small communities that would serve as social experiments and demonstration projects. • Such communities, or communes, would be based on principles of sharing cooperation and mutual support. • Such communes would be composed of members joining or leaving the The Individual within the Collective 7 community of their own free will. • Internally, all policy decisions, including decisions on production and distribution of goods and services, would be made in accordance with the principles of participatory democracy: one person, one vote. • Goods and services, as