The Role of the Cooperative in the Development of Rurban Settlements in Israel: Some Organisational Problems

Recent trends in the field of rural settlement in Israel have resulted in the development of new village forms. These 'rurban' settlements are characterised by different socioeconomic and organisational characteristics to those of the traditional kibbutz and moshav settlements. Particularly problematic is the role of the all-settlement Cooperative Association as providing the appropriate framework through which the settlement is efficiently managed on the one hand while at the same time giving sufficient flexibility to the individual settler. This may be seen best by recourse to such activities as the provision of the services, economic activity building norms, and the selection of new settlers, all of which take on a variety of forms in the settlements involved in this study. -Authors