This volume continues the narrative account of the history of the kibbutz movement from the outbreak of the Second World War onwards. This period included a number of dramatic and complex developments: the effects of the world war and the Holocaust on the kibbutzim and their youth movements; the political struggles which led to the end of the British mandate; the War of Independence, including the role of the Palmach and the political controversy it engendered; the crises which followed the establishment of the State of Israel and the politics of the kibbutz movement in the early years of independence; and the kibbutzim’s gradual adaptation to their new position in Israeli society and to the problems and challenges of a multi-generational society in the late twentieth century. Although the detailed narrative ends in 1977 (when the Israeli political system, and the status of the kibbutz, underwent a radical change), it is followed by a detailed overview describing the many developments which took place between 1977 and 1995.  Much of the material is new in any language, and virtually all is new in English. Throughout, economic developments, immigration and agricultural settlement, political and ideological issues, and internal social developments are presented as interdependent and as vitally affected by—and often affecting—the changing fortunes of the Jewish people, the Zionist movement, and the Jewish community in Palestine/Israel. But the kibbutzim are also presented as a special instance of a widespread social phenomenon: communal and co-operative societies.

Table of Contents:
List of Tables Note on Translation, Transliteration, and References Rates of Exchange and Inflation, 1935–1990 Introduction 1 The Kibbutz Movement in the War The War Effort • The Politics of Mobilization • Jewish Self-defence 2 The Kibbutz Movement and the Holocaust The European Youth Movements • Middle Eastern Youth Movements • The Yishuv • The Role of the Kibbutz Movements • Attitudes and Ideologies 3 The War Years: Settlement, Economics, and Politics Immigration and Absorption • Settlement • Economic Developments • The Politics of the Kibbutz Movements 4 Flight and Struggle: The Pre-State Period The Exodus from Europe • Revolt and Reaction: The Struggle • Economics and Settlement, 1945-1948 5 The War of Independence The War and the Kibbutzim • The Palmach in the War of Independence • The War of Independence and the Arab Refugees 6 Economics, Settlement, and Politics, 1947–1949 Economics • Settlement: The Peak of Achievement, 1948–1949 • Political Developments • The Kibbutz Movement after the War 7 The End of Pioneering? The Kibbutz in the 1950s The Crisis: Symptoms and Causes • The Kibbutz in the State • Solutions • Successes and Failures 8 Politics and Crisis, 1949–1954 Mapam • The Politics of the Kibbutz Me’uhad • The Division • The Prague Trial 9 Towards Prosperity: Settlement, Economics, and Politics, 1954–1977 Security • Settlement • Economics • Politics • The Religious Kibbutzim • The Kibbutz in Israeli Society 10 The Dilemmas of Prosperity: Social Developments, 1954–1977 Demography and Social Change • Culture • Patterns of Consumption • Gender • Education • Research and the Social Sciences • Seventeen Fat Years 11 Achievement and Crisis Seven Decades—Seven Crises • Sources of Strength • Sources of Weakness: Privileges and Penalties • Élitism and its Discontents • May 1977 • Laws of Change 12 Twenty Years On: 1977–1995 Politics and War • Settlement • Economics • Social Developments • The ‘New Kibbutz’ • Reflections and Conjectures Appendix 1: New settlement by movement, 1939–77 Appendix 2: Population of kibbutzim as percentage of Jewish population, 1939–77 Appendix 3: The kibbutz movement, 1995 Appendix 4: Guide to other settlements mentioned Map: The kibbutz movement in 1995 Glossary References Index