Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation

Abstract

Caliban and the Witch is a history of the body in the transition to capitalism. Moving from the peasant revolts of the late Middle Ages to the witch-hunts and the rise of mechanical philosophy, Federici investigates the capitalist rationalization of social reproduction. She shows how the battle against the rebel body and the conflict between body and mind are essential conditions for the development of labor power and self-ownership, two central principles of modern social organization. Table of Contents Preface. Introduction All the World Needs a Jolt: Social Movements and Political Crisis in Medieval Europe The Accumulation of Labor and the Degradation of Women: Constructing "Difference" in the "Transition to Capitalism" The Great Caliban: The Struggle Against the Rebel Body The Great Witch-Hunt in Europe Colonization and Christianization: Caliban and Witches in the New World Index. Bibliography