Caliban and the Witch

Silvia Federici

2004 • 285 pages

Ratings20

Average rating4.4

Literary Nonfiction. 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."It is both a passionate work of memory recovered and a hammer of humanity's agenda." Peter Linebaugh, author of The London Hanged"

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Mythos

3/5

Yes, I am done with this book. But I'm aware that I am going to spend the next three months having to come back to this book because the professor wants us to read/analyze certain sections. I know I am going to end up despising it because of this. So I'll review it now. I may come back and change a couple of details later.

It's a good book. It's definitely a different perspective about the transition of feudalism to capitalism with the intersection of the witch hunt. While I do agree with some of her points I don't agree with her thesis as a whole. I do feel like she over emphasizes the effect of the witch hunt in terms of the number of women it affected. I am not that well versed when it comes to the exact details but I do believe it did affect less than 100,000 women.

September 17, 2023

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