In the beginning of the 20th century, small groups of Eastern European Jewish zealots, inspired by the writings of Marx, Freud, and Buber, established in Palestine a new, utopian form of society that they called the kibbutz. Searching for an all-encompassing alternative to bourgeois society by declaring war not only on private property and material inequality, but also on the nuclear family, the kibbutz came to be one of the most radical and long-standing socialist experiments of modern times. After almost a century, like in many other places around the globe, the socialist experiment of the kibbutz came to an end. Since the late 1990s, the kibbutz has been undergoing a gradual process of decollectivization, rolling back most of its radical social arrangements. What was the nature of the socialist experiment of the kibbutz? How and why did it collapse? This talk will introduce the audience to the unique way of life developed in the kibbutz and to some of the far reaching changes that it is undergoing since the late 1990s. It will also offer an analysis of some of the dead-ends that the kibbutz’s socialist experiment encountered, which arguably contributed to its subsequent downfall.

Please note that registration is not necessary if you attend via zoom.

Zoom room for virtual attendance: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88340718266

This event was made possible by the Melvin Landsberg Endowment for Jewish adult education.

Bio: Omri Senderowicz

Omri Senderowicz is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Israel Studies at the University of
Kansas and the Israel Institute. He holds a Ph.D. from the Doctoral Program in Anthropology
and History at the University of Michigan, where he wrote his dissertation on the end of
socialism in an Israeli kibbutz. His research interests include the study of socialism and post-
socialism, the anthropology of ethics and “ugly emotions,” and ethnic politics in Israel.