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4.52 AVERAGE
4.52 AVERAGE
i became interested in this book thanks to some recommendations from friends and writers i like. i hoped this book would better prepare me, my vocabulary, and spirit to be a better co-worker/organizer in the workplace. every hope was surpassed in leaps and bounds truly. Caliban and the Witch is a deeply instructive and deeply moving look into the co-construction of capitalism, race, and gender as structures forced into being by the extension of power and repression by the catholic church and landowners threatened by the admirable and crafty revolts against serfdom by witches, heretics, laborers,n peasants. Later, we see the other side of this terror as settlers and colonists replicate their fears and needs for control in the Americas, persecution and repressing indigenous women, co creating mythos about the "cannibalism" of the indigenous with the attempted indoctrination to christianity as a haven from hell/the devil's grasp. Federici makes incredible use of primary resources- we gain amazing context for the visuality of witches/how information and fear was spread through prints-,her endnotes are sharp and lead the way to further sources, not that I read all of them. I would reccommend this impressive and beautiful book to anyone who does healing, organizing, anti-colonial work, decolonial work, or studies the persecution of witches, marxism, labor organizing.
this book will stay with me, will remind me to look for magic at work, to share it with my coworkers, to eat plants from the ground, to remember that we once used to drink blood for our health. to keep my eyes open.
i underlined a lot of passages, but one of my favorites starts on page 172:
In the eyes of the new capitalist class, this (magic and ritual practice), anarchic, molecular conception of the diffusion of power in the world was anathema. Aiming at controlling nature, the capitalist organization of work must refuse the unpredictability implicit in the practice of magic, and the possibility of establishing a privileged relation with the natural elements, as well as the belief in the existence of powers available only to particular individuals, and thus not easily generalized and exploitable. Magic was also and obstacle to the rationalization of the work process, and a threat to the establishment to the principle of individual responsibility. Above all, magic seemed a form of refusal to work, of insubordination, and an instrument of grassroots resistance to power. The world had to be “disenchanted” in order to be dominated.
this book will stay with me, will remind me to look for magic at work, to share it with my coworkers, to eat plants from the ground, to remember that we once used to drink blood for our health. to keep my eyes open.
i underlined a lot of passages, but one of my favorites starts on page 172:
In the eyes of the new capitalist class, this (magic and ritual practice), anarchic, molecular conception of the diffusion of power in the world was anathema. Aiming at controlling nature, the capitalist organization of work must refuse the unpredictability implicit in the practice of magic, and the possibility of establishing a privileged relation with the natural elements, as well as the belief in the existence of powers available only to particular individuals, and thus not easily generalized and exploitable. Magic was also and obstacle to the rationalization of the work process, and a threat to the establishment to the principle of individual responsibility. Above all, magic seemed a form of refusal to work, of insubordination, and an instrument of grassroots resistance to power. The world had to be “disenchanted” in order to be dominated.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
A brilliant work. Federici astutely closes several holes in Marxist theory and weaves many other threads together, creating a fantastic tapestry.
There are some things to be picky about, mostly relating to the way these large “big picture” Marxist interpretations of history are necessarily formed, but they cannot bring down what a cogent and overall irrefutable argument this presents.
There are some things to be picky about, mostly relating to the way these large “big picture” Marxist interpretations of history are necessarily formed, but they cannot bring down what a cogent and overall irrefutable argument this presents.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
看简介很感兴趣，资本主义的兴起和猎巫之间的关系是我没想到过的角度，同时在想到以后也觉得是非常情理之中的假设。译后记总结得很好：“如果说原始积累将男性变成工资的奴隶，那么猎巫将女性变成男性工人的奴隶。女人的无偿家务劳动、性与生殖权力都被转化为一种国家所控制的经济资源。” 但读完比较失望，书本身写了很多关于压迫农民和原住民的历史来铺垫/说明和猎巫的相似之处，我并不觉得作者需要着墨这么多来展示这一点。书里讲猎巫（或者说迫害女性的历史）的内容反倒不足四分之一，除了让我看到更多血淋淋的数字和更加清楚认识到女性几百几千年来被迫害的经历以外，并没有提出什么新的观点。写历史和思想的地方我因为缺乏背景知识也读得很艰难。最大的takeaway就是，女人的天性就是反抗，在异教盛行的社会期间里最有力的叛乱多是由女性领导的，这也是为什么资本主义和父权社会这么害怕女性力量。打压和迫害不可能让我们服从，只会让我们成长得更加坚韧。
Notable libro que describe el proceso de proletarización y advenimiento del sistema capitalista en Europa, relacionándolo con el fenómeno de caza de brujas, desde un lente crítico y de género. La transición desde el feudalismo al capitalismo y la construcción de roles de género que inferiorizan a la mujer no ocurrieron natural ni azarosamente, y este libro permite entender dichos procesos al detallar cómo las fuerzas de la burguesía, el clero, la aristocracia y los colonizadores actuaron en contra de las formas de organización y resistencia popular, las diferentes creencias paganas, y las civilizaciones americanas, para construir la base del sistema global que perdura hasta hoy.
informative
dark
informative
slow-paced
This is a transformative book that calls into question everything you thought you knew and understood about the world, at least for me. It answers a myriad of questions I constantly wrestle with such as “why is there so much food in the world and yet people are starving? Is capitalism a good thing? Why is there such an emphasis on individuality? How did certain phrases comes to be common?”
Federici lays out a compelling argument for the participation of women in resistance to the exploitation inherent in capitalism- exploitation of labor, of the body, and of women as a group. She explains the process of enclosure and privatization as the first step to mass genocide. She explores how the witch-hunts were not a “period of superstition” but was a systematic state initiative to stamp out female leaders and break the collective willpower of the people to resist their own exploitation. She further explains how the participation of males in these campaigns of terror and of Europeans in the same campaigns of terror in colonization (the two processes happening parallel) confirmed their own exploitation.
If you’ve ever wondered why housework is unpaid labor, how come world leaders tend to be white men, how many racial stereotypes were impressed upon collective conscious, why there are no female gods, how homosexuality became a crime, why prostitutes are jailed instead of their clients, why old women are invisible in our society, why reproductive politics continues to rage in an unabashed assault against women’s knowledge and autonomy, among other relevant questions- this book is a must read.
Federici lays out a compelling argument for the participation of women in resistance to the exploitation inherent in capitalism- exploitation of labor, of the body, and of women as a group. She explains the process of enclosure and privatization as the first step to mass genocide. She explores how the witch-hunts were not a “period of superstition” but was a systematic state initiative to stamp out female leaders and break the collective willpower of the people to resist their own exploitation. She further explains how the participation of males in these campaigns of terror and of Europeans in the same campaigns of terror in colonization (the two processes happening parallel) confirmed their own exploitation.
If you’ve ever wondered why housework is unpaid labor, how come world leaders tend to be white men, how many racial stereotypes were impressed upon collective conscious, why there are no female gods, how homosexuality became a crime, why prostitutes are jailed instead of their clients, why old women are invisible in our society, why reproductive politics continues to rage in an unabashed assault against women’s knowledge and autonomy, among other relevant questions- this book is a must read.
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
Astoundingly good and informative book, about the important of the witch trials to the expansion of capitalism, and the repression of women for centuries to come.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced