Silvia Federici's Caliban and the Witch [5-week Reading Group, $150 suggested]
Instructor: Andrews | Tuesdays March 15-April 12 | 7:00-8:30 PM ET
Witch hunts, which targeted women, intensified across Europe at the same time as the origin of capitalism. Why? The same strategy of the witch hunt was used to dispossess colonized people of their lands and justify chattel slavery. What does gender have to do with capitalism and how does it intersect with colonialism and enslavement? Over the course of five weeks, we’ll read Silvia Federici’s major intervention in anti-capitalist thinking: Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body, and Primitive Accumulation. We’ll read to learn about how the degradation of women has been central to the expansion of capitalism across the globe, and how the “feminization of labor” has exacerbated inequality. From AK Press: “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 mind are essential conditions for the development of labor power and self-ownership, two central principles of modern social organization.”
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We depend on a mix of direct student donations and supplemental donations to make all classes pay-what-you-can. Please pick the pricing tier that corresponds with your needs and that you are able to pay now. If you would like to pay in installments, make your first payment now and make a note on your check-out form. If you would like to donate more later in the term, you can always come back and use the “Make a One Time Donation” button! To use a full scholarship, just pick the $3 tier to cover site/processor fees.
If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, we will work with you to reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.
Instructor: Andrews | Tuesdays March 15-April 12 | 7:00-8:30 PM ET
Witch hunts, which targeted women, intensified across Europe at the same time as the origin of capitalism. Why? The same strategy of the witch hunt was used to dispossess colonized people of their lands and justify chattel slavery. What does gender have to do with capitalism and how does it intersect with colonialism and enslavement? Over the course of five weeks, we’ll read Silvia Federici’s major intervention in anti-capitalist thinking: Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body, and Primitive Accumulation. We’ll read to learn about how the degradation of women has been central to the expansion of capitalism across the globe, and how the “feminization of labor” has exacerbated inequality. From AK Press: “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 mind are essential conditions for the development of labor power and self-ownership, two central principles of modern social organization.”
—
We depend on a mix of direct student donations and supplemental donations to make all classes pay-what-you-can. Please pick the pricing tier that corresponds with your needs and that you are able to pay now. If you would like to pay in installments, make your first payment now and make a note on your check-out form. If you would like to donate more later in the term, you can always come back and use the “Make a One Time Donation” button! To use a full scholarship, just pick the $3 tier to cover site/processor fees.
If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, we will work with you to reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.
Instructor: Andrews | Tuesdays March 15-April 12 | 7:00-8:30 PM ET
Witch hunts, which targeted women, intensified across Europe at the same time as the origin of capitalism. Why? The same strategy of the witch hunt was used to dispossess colonized people of their lands and justify chattel slavery. What does gender have to do with capitalism and how does it intersect with colonialism and enslavement? Over the course of five weeks, we’ll read Silvia Federici’s major intervention in anti-capitalist thinking: Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body, and Primitive Accumulation. We’ll read to learn about how the degradation of women has been central to the expansion of capitalism across the globe, and how the “feminization of labor” has exacerbated inequality. From AK Press: “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 mind are essential conditions for the development of labor power and self-ownership, two central principles of modern social organization.”
—
We depend on a mix of direct student donations and supplemental donations to make all classes pay-what-you-can. Please pick the pricing tier that corresponds with your needs and that you are able to pay now. If you would like to pay in installments, make your first payment now and make a note on your check-out form. If you would like to donate more later in the term, you can always come back and use the “Make a One Time Donation” button! To use a full scholarship, just pick the $3 tier to cover site/processor fees.
If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, we will work with you to reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.