Law in The Kibbutz: A Reappraisal

Abstract

The relationship between social structure and the development of legal institutions is the central theme in the classic study-by Richard Schwartz, now more than two decades old, “Social Factors in the Development of Legal Control: A Case Study of Two Israeli Settlements” (1954). The article is based on an examination of the systems of control developed in two rural communities, one a kibbutz (or kvutza), based on social and economic collectivism; the other a moshav, a cooperative settlement with private property and social life geared to the nuclear family. Internal controls in both communities were exercised through a General Assembly, composed of all members, and by a number of specialized committees. In contrast to the moshav, which had a Judicial Committee performing an adjudicatory function, Schwartz found that the kibbutz “had no distinctly legal institution” and that its control system “must be considered informal rather than legal” since public opinion constituted its sole sanction (Schwartz, 1954: 471,476).

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