The collective and the individual in contemporary kibbutz dining rooms

The dining room has always been the pulsing heart of the kibbutz (Israeli communal settlement). Located spatially and symbolically at the center of the kibbutz, frequented thrice daily by most members and accommodating most central social institutions, the kibbutz dining room of the past was clearly the main hub of social life and the utmost expression of the kibbutz socialist and communal ideology. However, along with the profound ideological and social changes sweeping contemporary kibbutzim recently, the dining room has been deeply transformed. Based on anthropological fieldwork conducted in the dining rooms of three kibbutzim at different stages of privatization, this article follows the contested meanings of the dining room experience. Food and eating patterns are presented as expressions of hegemonic power structures, and their modifications as reflecting the changing values and power struggles within and beyond the kibbutz. I challenge the common understanding of the 'kibbutz crisis' as a consequence of the rise of individualism in contemporary Israel and argue that, along with the individual, the main competitors over kibbutz members' loyalty are primordial social institutions, such as the family and the ethnic group, as well as modern socioeconomic allegiances. I conclude by highlighting specific qualities of the dining room as a culinary sphere that make it a privileged arena for ideological debate, resistance and change.