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

Witch-hunting as a means of controlling rebellious women under patriarchal capitalism is a dominant theme throughout Silvia Federici’s book. In the early modern period, a paradigm shift occurred in the way European elites conceived of the relationship between the mind and the body. Mechanical Philosophy, under the aegis of such thinkers as René Descartes, framed the body as a machine, thereby creating a hierarchical division between the rational mind, which was associated with men, and the unruly, corrupt body, which was associated with women. This paradigm shift facilitated not only the rise of patriarchy but also the spread of witch-hunting, which became a method of controlling unruly female bodies—that is, women who resisted patriarchal authority.

According to Federici, witch-hunting was undoubtedly motivated by the rise of patriarchy. However, these new patriarchal norms intersected with socioeconomic changes as Europe shifted from feudalism to capitalism. This socioeconomic shift coincided with a decreased population, creating an urgent need for a steady supply of workers. Women’s reproduction, and therefore their bodies, became a matter of public concern, with women forced out of the money-economy and into the home, where their chief task was to have children/laborers.