“Spheres of Justice” in the Israeli Kibbutz and Urban Sectors: Adolescents’ Views C LARA S ABBAGH *,** AND Y ECHEZKEL D AR *** ABSTRACT The current study suggests that, in order to enhance our understanding of the dynamics of the “local” system of distrib- utive justice in the Israeli kibbutz, we need to examine its links to the broader society and its correspondent conceptions of jus- tice. Following the notion of “spheres of justice” and using data gathered in 1986, prior to the accelerated de-communalization of the kibbutz, these dynamics are examined by comparing the social justice judgments of kibbutz and urban adolescents. This comparison unveiled a shared pattern in justice systems in which both kibbutz and urban adolescents favor differentiation of particularistic resources (prestige and power) more strongly than differentiation of universalistic resources (learning oppor- tunities and money). At the same time, the comparison also highlighted the distinctive features of the kibbutz’s local justice system of stronger differentiation of prestige, the most partic- ularistic resource, and of economic equality, the most univer- salistic resource. The kibbutz’s distinctive system of distributive justice can be attributed to its communal structure, which has * Preparation of this paper was supported by the NCJW Institute for Innovation in Education at the Hebrew University. Helene Hogri contributed her invaluable editorial assistance. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Clara Sabbagh: csabbagh@construct.haifa.ac.il ** Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel. E-mail: csabbagh@construct.haifa.ac.il *** School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel. E-mail: dar@vms.huji.ac.il Comparative Sociology, Volume 1, issue 2 Ó 2002 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden