Summary

In "Caliban and the Witch," Silvia Federici embarks on a profound feminist re-examination of the transition from feudalism to capitalism, challenging conventional Marxist interpretations by placing women, their bodies, and reproductive labor at the center of the analysis. Federici critiques Marx's concept of 'primitive accumulation,' arguing that it overlooks the crucial role of women's subjugation and the witch hunts in the development of capitalist relations.

The book unveils how the rise of capitalism necessitated a war against women, particularly through the witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries, which Federici interprets not as a superstitious aberration, but as a systematic effort to destroy women's control over their reproductive function and communal resources. This persecution, she contends, was as vital to capitalist accumulation as the colonization of the New World and the expropriation of European peasantry from their lands.

Federici intricately connects the witch hunts to the broader social and economic transformations of the era, including the reorganization of housework, family life, and male-female relations. She examines the anti-feudal struggles of the Middle Ages, highlighting the emergence of grassroots women's movements that challenged dominant sexual norms and contributed to alternative models of communal life. The book explores how the demonization of women as witches served to justify their exclusion from waged work and their subordination to men, thus creating a new patriarchal order that was essential for capitalist accumulation.

Furthermore, "Caliban and the Witch" analyzes the impact of colonialism and Christianization on indigenous populations in the New World, drawing parallels between the subjugation of women in Europe and the exploitation of enslaved Africans and Native Americans. Federici argues that capitalism inherently relies on racism and sexism to justify and mystify its contradictions, denigrating the 'nature' of those it exploits. The book exposes the dialectics of accumulation and destruction of labor-power, with women bearing the highest cost. Ultimately, Federici calls for a reinterpretation of capitalist history from a feminist viewpoint, emphasizing the need to revive the memory of resistance and challenge the ongoing forms of exploitation in the era of globalization.