Utopia in Zion: The Israeli Experience With Worker Cooperatives (Suny Series in Israeli Studies) - Softcover

Russell, Raymond

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791424448 ISBN 13: 9780791424445

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1995

Synopsis

A historical, sociological, and economic analysis of urban worker cooperatives in contemporary Israel.

Although less famous than Israel’s cooperative agricultural settlements, the kibbutzim and moshavim, Israeli urban worker cooperatives have an equally long and rich history. Well over a thousand such organizations have been established in what is now Israel since early in this century. This book provides a historical, social, and economic analysis of contemporary urban worker cooperatives, focusing on processes affecting their formation and dissolution, their use of nonmember labor, and the evolution of their democratic decision-making practices over time.

Raymond Russell examines these cooperatives for the light they can shed on worker ownerships and worker cooperatives in general, and on Israeli society in particular. Applying a range of sociological and economic theories to examine the dynamics of these organizations over time, he finds that both their formation and their later development have been strongly influenced by the uniquely utopian social and economic conditions that prevailed in Jewish Palestine in the first half of the twentieth century.

About this title

About the Author

Raymond Russell is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of Sharing Ownership in the Workplace, also published by SUNY Press.

Review

“This is a fresh, objective analysis of several extremely complicated issues. I particularly like the author’s ability to examine his topic from a variety of perspectives: historical, political, and sociological. The narrative portions of the book are outstanding. The author writes well and addresses significant problems well beyond the immediate context of the study. The topic is significant and timely. Workplaces throughout the world, including the U.S., are undergoing major change, and the book explores with sensitivity the sometimes ambiguous relationship between democratic workplace practices and economic success and failure. There are lessons here for all of us.” ― Morris L. Fried, University of Connecticut

About this edition

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0791424448
• ISBN 13: 9780791424445
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 350