TOPIC 8-STAGE 4-MESO Merging Parallel Worlds: Multi Level Citizenship in the Israeli Kibbutz The Israeli Kibbutz is a unique phenomenon as a multi-purpose cooperative, entailing municipal, organizational and communitarian... [ view full abstract ]
TOPIC 8-STAGE 4-MESO
Merging Parallel Worlds: Multi Level Citizenship in the Israeli Kibbutz
The Israeli Kibbutz is a unique phenomenon as a multi-purpose cooperative, entailing municipal, organizational and communitarian characteristics. Over the past two decades, internal changes of norms and lifestyles, introduction of personal ownership of housing and the establishment of an incentive system, alongside depreciation in hegemonic ideological commitment, have led the majority of kibbutzim and their members in search of a renewed identity, in order to create a new and unique common denominator and value set vis-à-vis prevailing competing economic and community alternatives in rural Israel, both for existing and future members.
Spread throughout rural Israel, the 250 kibbutzim, members of the cooperative “Kibbutz Movement”, represent size, years of existence, demographic, economic and geographic variance, alongside historic and cultural differences. Kibbutzims’ separate municipal, geographic, social and economic entity makes them highly dependent of member engagement and involvement, in order to maintain long term viability.
From a member–oriented political science perspective, kibbutz membership includes several circles of citizenship: municipal, organizational, social (communitarian) and cooperative. By defining “good” citizenship or membership as the aggregate “good” or active citizenship (or membership) in each circle, i.e. - participation in all dimensions of economic and social life as well as in cooperative governance and decision making processes, social cohesion, organizational commitment and involvement, the proposed study aims to identify each circle of citizenship’s components in order to characterize and conceptualize “Good” Kibbutz citizenship, and its core or conflicting components, based on relevant theories and existing political, organizational, social and cooperative research.
Following characterization and conceptualization, prospective study design will include collection of quantitative data from kibbutz members, in order to validate proposed components and assess multilevel (individual and clustered) “good” kibbutz citizenship.
Acknowledging the importance of education as predictor of different forms of political participation, the proposed study will contribute to cooperative member education, enhanced democratic member participation and promotion of good cooperative governance. Additional contribution relates to recommended acceptance criteria for future kibbutz members and adequate standards for proper and contributing absorption processes and measures.
