
by Thales José Carneiro Fortes Diniz
Graduate in philosophy at the Federal University of Ouro Preto,
Mastering at the Central University of Venezuela: philosophy.
Summary:
This paper describes the cooperative system called kibbutz in Israel, in order to answer questions about its origin and foundation, resources, social structure, and also highlight the goals, challenges, criticisms and the lessons that can be learned, including how to use economic and water resources.
Keywords: Kibbutz, Zionism, Cooperatives.
Introduction
The cooperative system called kibbutz, plural kibbutzim, which in Hebrew means to gather is a cooperative model which first began forming in Palestine in 1904, following an expulsion wave—motivated by Russian Czarism—of Jews from various parts of mostly Southern Russia, Europe and the surrounding areas. Although the cooperative system exists around the world, in no other country has intentional collective communities played such an important role as with the kibbutzim in Israel; in fact, the very foundation of the Jewish state in 1948 completely depended on this social phenomenon.The population of most kibbutzim is between 200 and 600 members, with some as few as 100 or as many as 1000. They also hire workers and accept volunteers. In 2010 the cooperative factories and farms of 270 kibbutzim accounted for 9 percent of the total production of Israel, around 8 billion dollars of which 40 percent derived from agriculture worth over $1.7 billion. In this article we consider how the members live and work together and its significance for others cooperatives. Most of this information was obtained from former residents, some of whom spent much of their lives in the kibbutzim and have relatives who are still part of this system.