Michael’s Reviews > Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation > Status Update
Michael
is on page 76 of 285
Federici has identified the advent of inflation (!!) in its contemporary form originating from the separation of workers from their means of subsistence, and the prominence of wage labour - supplanting subsistence agricultural labour from land privatization (enclosures) - forcing women into an unwaged "sector" of household reproductive labour, upon which the entire system of capitalist production depends. Monumental!
— 10 hours, 16 min ago
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Michael
is on page 75 of 285
"The separation of workers trom their means of subsistence and their new dependence on monetary relations also meant that the real wage could now be cut and women's labor could be further devalued with respect to men's through monetary manipulation. It is not a coincidence then, that as soon as land began to be privatized, the prices of foodstuffs, which for two centuries had stagnated, began to rise."
— 10 hours, 27 min ago
Michael
is on page 75 of 285
"But the economic importance of the reproduction of labor-power carried out in the home, and its function in the accumulation of capital became invisible, being mystified as a natural vocation and labelled "women's labor." In addition, women were excluded from many waged occupations and, when they worked for a wage, they earned a pittance compared to the average male wage."
— 10 hours, 29 min ago
Michael
is on page 75 of 285
"In the new monetary regime, only production-for-market was defined as a value-creating activity, whereas the reproduction of the worker began to be considered as valueless from an economic viewpoint and even ceased to be considered as work. Reproductive work continued to be paid - though at the lowest rates - when performed for the master class or outside the home..."
— 10 hours, 31 min ago
Michael
is on page 74 of 285
"With the demise of the subsistence economy that had prevailed in pre-capitalist Europe. the unıty ot production and reproduction which has been typical of all societies based on production-for-use came to an end, as these activities became the carriers of dif ferent social relations and were sexually differentiated. In the new monetary regime, only... "
— 10 hours, 35 min ago
Michael
is on page 80 of 285
"That the transition to capitalism inaugurated along period of starvation for worts ers in Europe which plausibly ended because of the economic expansion produced by colonization - is also demonstrated by the fact that, while in the 14th and 15th cen- turies, the proletarian struggle had centered around the demand for "liberty" and less work, by the 16th and 17t, it was mostly spurred by hunger... "
— 18 hours, 27 min ago
Michael
is on page 49 of 285
"It is difficult to retrospectively tell how far playing the "sex card" helped the state to discipline and divide the medieval proletariat. What is certain is that this ... was part of a broader process which, in response to the intensification of social conflict, led to the centralization of the state, as the only agent capable of confronting the generalization of the struggle and safeguarding the class relation."
— Mar 15, 2026 06:05PM
Michael
is on page 49 of 285
"Thus, between 1350-1450, publicly managed, tax-financed brothels were opened in every town and village in Italy and France, in numbers far superior to those reached in the 19th century. "
— Mar 15, 2026 06:05PM
Michael
is on page 49 of 285
Another aspect of the divisive sexual politics that the princes and municipal authorities pursues to diffuse workers' protest was the institutionalization of prostitution, implemented through the opening of municipal brothels soon proliferating throughout Europe. Enabled by the contemporary high-wage regime, state-managed prostitution was seen as a useful remedy for the turbulence of proletarian youth..."
— Mar 15, 2026 06:00PM
Michael
is on page 24 of 285
"The medieval servile community fell short of these goals, and should not be idealized as an example of communalism. In fact, its example reminds us that neither "communalism"' nor "localism" can be a guarantee of egalitarian relations unless the community controls its means of subsistence and all its members have equal access to them."
— Mar 08, 2026 09:22AM
Michael
is on page 24 of 285
"With the use of land also came the use of the "commons'- meadows, forests, lakes, wild pastures - that provided crucial resources for the peasant economy (wood for fuel, timber for building, fishponds, grazing grounds for animals) and fostered community cohesion and cooperation. In Northern Italy, control over these resources even provided the basis for the development of communal self-administrations."
— Mar 08, 2026 09:21AM
