Indeed, as women also tended the land, Federici contends that they were less dependant on spouses for survival. This did not make them more ‘free’ than the average worker today, though it did give them direct access to land, the tenure of which could be passed down through generations. Peasants, Revolts, Enclosureįederici’s analysis of the peasant revolts of the 1200s and 1300s, as well as her development of the process of enclosure, are particularly compelling.įederici understands serfdom as a unique form of class relation, as serfs had direct access to the means of production. Nevertheless, Federici’s historical and gendered approach to social reproduction theory is a great introduction for anyone interested in developing their understanding of the theory or appraising the Medieval period through a Marxist lens. She has since refined some of these arguments in the subsequent work, Witches, Witch-Hunting, and Women (2018), which provides a more specific analysis of the witch-hunts.

It seems, at times, in attempting to develop Marxist ideas of reproduction and gender through the lens of the body, Federici becomes tunnel-visioned, failing to appreciate women as workers in the traditional sense. Federici’s method is centred on embodiment, as she attempts to locate the source of women’s oppression under capitalism in the body and reproductive servitude. In Caliban and the Witch, Federici moves from the peasant revolts of the late Medieval period to the witch-hunts and the rise of mechanical philosophy to develop the historical groundings of social reproduction theory. Moreover, it is timely to revisit the question of witch-hunts, a phenomenon which has historically (and to a lesser extent, in modern times) cost the lives of many innocent women. Social reproduction theory, which explains how the replenishment of labour each day is essential to capitalism, helps us tie together these issues. The fact that more work has been piled into the home, and that this has been disproportionately shouldered by women, has shone a spotlight on pre-existing inequalities. The call to ‘stay at home’ during the pandemic has raised vital questions about care, work, the home and capitalism.

Alexandra Day reviews Silvia Federici’s seminal work, Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation.įirst published in 2004, Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici is a work well worth revisiting in 2020.

Caliban silvia federici