The Reciprocal Relationship between Gender Equality and Communal Life

1
The Reciprocal Relationship between Gender
Equality and Communal Life

• Michal Palgi
• The Institute for Research of the Kibbutz and the
  cooperative idea
• The university of haifa

2
The Kibbutz Communities

• There are 267 Kibbutzim today scattered
  throughout Israel.
• The Kibbutzim constitute 1.8 (120,000) of
  Israels population, yet their contribution to
  the national economy amounts to 40 in
  agriculture, 8.4 in industrial output, and 7.5
  in industrial export.

3
The Original Values of the Kibbutz

• Equality among members as well as among kibbutz
  communities.
• Direct democracy, participation and rotation of
  office holders.
• Equal value to all works.
• Mutual guarantee and help within the kibbutz and
  between kibbutz communities.

4
Structure Enabling Gender Equality

• Meals, cooked and eaten in the communal kitchen
• Washing and mending of clothes in the communal
  laundry
• Childcare in the children's houses.
• Women and men - economically independent of each
  other.
• All women belonged to the work force.
• Economic rewards were equal to all.
• A single parent received the same allowance for
  the children as a couple.
• Participation in the governing bodies of the
  kibbutz was open to all members.

5
Expected Results of Kibbutz Ideology

• A different occupational, social organizational
  structure.
• A different gender division of labor aided by
  ideology.
• Therefore much attention was given to gender
  equality in the kibbutz communities.

6
Questioning the Socialist Definition of Equality

• from each according to his ability to each
  according to his needs.
• This definition was supposed to satisfy a reality
  of social diversity but did it?
• Is it sufficient for gender equality?

7
Pitfalls in the Definition

• It was stated in its masculine version and not in
  a gender neutral version.
• It opens space for stereotypic pressures on each
  gender to do the jobs perceived best fitted to
  it.
• This definition does not manage to skip the
  faultline trap.
• Faultline refers to hypothetical dividing lines
  that may split a group into subgroups and give
  rise to polarization between in-group and
  out-group identities (Bezrukova, 2009).

8
Kibbutz Reality

• Women had the same standard of living as men.
• No poverty among women or children, but
• Women worked mainly in female jobs education
  and services.
• Jobs that did not prepare them for managerial and
  economic offices.
• They were under represented in the management and
  economy of kibbutz.

9
During the years changes occurred
10
Value Changes
The Base Line The Changes
- Equality in rewards - Direct Democracy - The needs of the individual and community converge Equal standard of living One type of membership Social ownership - Equity in rewards Representative Democracy The needs of the individual are prior to communitys Gaps in standard of living Two types of membership Individual ownership
11
Todays Welfare Regimes in the Kibbutz

• Different forms of welfare regimes were formed in
  kibbutz communities.
• Some remained communitarian and others moved
  towards liberalism.
• Most of them did not move to extreme liberalism.

12
The Worlds of Kibbutz Welfare
Pre-liberal Communitarian
Individual Full Healthcare
Partial Full Child education
Individual Full Adult education
Individual Full Pension
Equity Equality need Salary base
Medium None Salary gaps
Mixed Social Ownership
Earners Hard workers Prestige
Indirect Direct Democracy
13
Some Reasons for Passage from Monolithic to
Multiple Regimes

• Ideological change
• - open system
• - new generation
• - new comers
• Economic crisis
• Political and social environment

14
Positive Aspects of the Change

• The opening of the outside job market to the
  kibbutz expands the variety of women's
  occupations
• It allows them to penetrate into new occupations.
  
• To achieve more in the professional and economic
  fields.
• These achievements can improve their social
  status.

15
The Hazards of the Change

• This trend also exposes women to the social
  discrimination that exists in the surrounding
  society.
• When the kibbutz loses its unique
  characteristics, women lose the advantages that
  the old kibbutz bestowed upon them, mainly
  economic equality, equivalent social security,
  and peace of mind.
• The status of women in the kibbutz gets closer to
  the status of women in Israeli society, with its
  advantages and its drawbacks.

16
Ah, is this the reason there are more men than
women in the Parliament?
Ah, is this the reason there are more men than
women in the Parliament?