In this strange video history, we look at the hidden history of witch-hunts during the transition from feudalism to capitalism. We’ll focus on women’s experiences during this period, how capitalism disciplined the the worker’s body, and a more complete account of primitive accumulation. Each episode focuses on each chapter from the book Caliban & the Witch: Women, the Body & Primitive Accumulation by philosopher Sylvia Federici.
The Introduction to Caliban & the Witch. Caliban & the Witch attempts to reconstruct history with a feminist lens thereby revealing hidden forms of exploitation and domination during the before and genesis of capitalism. Throughout this book, Sister Federici is in constant conversation with various warlocks throughout the ages. Warlocks such as William Shakespeare, Karl Marx, and Michel Foucault. In her critique, she liberates the women from a male-centered history that has covered over them for centuries. (view more)
Chapter 1. So what exactly was feudalism? How did it all begin? When and for what reason did it occur? What led to its downfall and allowed the emergence of a new form of political economy called capitalism? What is what? (view more)
The Accumulation of Labor & the Degradation of Women
Chapter 2. So horrible is the story of Capitalist primitive accumulation of wealth, full of blood, crime and the degradation of women, like myself. This European story is a road bridging feudalism to capitalism, from the 15th – 17th centuries. Ultimately, it led to the immiseration of the working class. Primitive accumulation is a road paved with war, land privatization, evictions, rent increases, higher taxation, usury, & religion. (view more)
Citations:
Federici, Silvia. Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation. Buy here!
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