Silvia Federici

Tarihe ‘Cadı Avı Çağı’ olarak geçen karanlık dönem, genellikle filmlere ve romanlara konu olmuş, popüler kültürün bir parçası hâline gelmiş Salem cadılık davaları aracılığıyla bilinir. Oysa okyanusun karşı yakasında yürütülen Salem davaları, aynı dönemde Avrupa'da yaşanan kıyıma kıyasla hikâyenin sadece çok küçük bir parçasıdır. Avrupa tarihinin yaklaşık 300 yıllık bir dilimine damgasını vurmuş cadı avı çılgınlığı, doğal, show more iktisadi ve toplumsal koşullarda meydana gelen ani değişimlerin, kimlik bunalımlarının ve ötekine yönelik müzmin düşmanlığın küçük bir kıvılcımla kitlesel bir histeriye dönüşüp Avrupa’yı en ücra yerlerine kadar küle çevirdiği bir yangının adı hâline gelmiştir.

Silvia Federici, modern klasiklerden biri hâline gelmiş bu abidevi kitabında, okura bambaşka bir tablo sunuyor. Cadı avlarının, akıldışı korkuların yol açtığı dizginsiz bir deliliğin uç noktası olmadığını, o sıralar yeni oluşan kapitalist düzenin acımasız ve katı mantığının tamamen ‘akılcı’ ve hesaplanabilir bir sonucu olduğunu gözler önüne seriyor. Topraksız bırakılan köylülerin isyanlarından kadın bedeninin işgücünü üreten bir kuluçka makinesi olarak görülüp kadının ev işlerine mahkûm edilmesine uzanan süreçte cadı avlarının kadınları değersizleştirmek, şeytanlaştırmak, onların toplumsal güçlerini ellerinden almak için başlatılmış planlı ve meşum bir girişim olduğunu haykırıyor. Cadıların yok olduğu işkence odalarında, kazıklarda, burjuvanın kadınlık ve eve bağlılık ideallerinin nasıl filizlendiğini anlatıyor. Toplumsal çalkantıların, açlığın, kıtlığın ve salgın hastalıkların tam ortasında, toplumlar çökerken kapitalizmin yükselişinin, bedenin bir direniş alanı hâline gelişinin, kadınların anlatılmayan hikâyesinin izini sürüyor. show less

Excellent read on the end of European feudalism and the war capitalism waged to subdue peasants. Like many, my education about the Middle Ages was very limited, and my impression was mostly that of a miserable, impoverished peasantry in virtual slavery to their feudal lords. Little did I know that peasants actually had power - and lots of it - in the twilight of feudalism. The disintegrating feudal relationship, along with the massive labor shortage caused by the Black Death, led to massive show more wars against feudal masters and skyrocketing wages for workers.

It is in this context that Federici describes the 'Age of the Whip' - the imposition of capitalist discipline on a resistant peasantry. In particular, she explores the evolution of a number of trends, including: the enclosure of the commons and the 'bloody' laws against vagabonds, the shift to a mechanical view of the body, and most especially the war on women in the form of popular misogyny and witch burnings. She does a great job of tying these strands together in a way that's elucidating and engaging. There were a few moments towards the end of the book where I had to remind myself of the big picture, and the final chapter on the witch hunt in the Americas was not meshed well with the rest of the book, but overall a wonderful and highly recommended book. show less

This is a really interesting text exploring women and the costs to women (the violence against women) inherent in shifts to capitalism, primarily in Europe (which we'll hit on later.) Federici is drawing together a LOT here, and in some cases, drawing together vast bodies of literature that don't speak very much to each other. In some cases, I was left wondering if her reach was too broad here, because I wasn't sure it all came together. At the beginning of the book, she discussed how, show more rather than focus on the titular Caliban, she was going to focus on the witch, but for me, the focus on European women overwhelmed the mentions of indigenous or African women, and how colonization deeply shaped not just developments of capitalism in Europe, but also ideas about womanhood more generally. Federici gestures at it sometimes, and works really hard to claim that poor women are demonized before colonization happens, but I'm not sure she really gives the claim as much weight or engages with it as much (especially thinking about African women and reproductive capacity, etc. etc.)

Which is not to say she's not making an impressive argument here, just that maybe I wasn't convinced by all parts of her argument. Regardless, I think this is a really fascinating look at the gendered aspects of the closures of the commons and beyond. I'm not sure I'm as well-read in Marxist history as I should be to approach this book, but I felt like I could mostly understand her arguments in spite of that fact. show less

Finally finished this book after starting it in April.

Probably the second most important non-fiction book I have read. It filled me with so much anger and despair (has to put it down multiple times), and it gave me so much perspective on the process of primitive accumulation, it's connection to colonialism, and it's inherent link with the witch hunt.

I am exaggerating only slightly when I say all men should be killed and the European continent nuked from orbit. This, of course, is in no way show more the message of the book. It's a classic piece of scholarship tracking the shunned story of the women and indigenous folk that got genocided as Witches and Calibans during the enforcement of social discipline on the proletariat and the peasantry during the transition from feudalism to global capitalist social relations.

What particularly draw my interest was the material connection between the mode of production and the systematic assault on women's (sexual violence, state control over women's bodies, witch hunt) and indigenous peoples' (slavery, forced labour in mines, genocide) labour and way of life. I also found very informative the author's account of sex work, it's development and it's persecution during this same period. show less