In this slim but substantive piece Federici examines the history of the (particularly female) body during the transition to capitalism. She tirelessly excavates and links an array of subjects:
The mind/body conflict necessary for successful labor production
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
