Silvia Federici (born in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second m ...

, Italy, 1942) is a scholar, teacher, and feminist activist based in New York. She is a professor emerita and teaching fellow at

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New ...

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...

, where she was a social science professor. She also taught at the

University of Port Harcourt The University of Port Harcourt is located in Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, Nigeria. It was established in 1975 as University College, Port Harcourt and was given university status in 1977. The University of Port Harcourt was ran ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. In 1972, with Mariarosa Dalla Costa and Selma James, she co-founded the International Feminist Collective, the organization that launched the campaign for Wages for Housework. In 1990, Federici co-founded the

Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa The Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa (CAFA) was an organisation set up in light of the struggles in the universities consequent to the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). The organisation was founded by Silvia Feder ...

(CAFA), and with Ousseina Alidou was the editor of the CAFA bulletin for over a decade. She was also a member of The Academic Association of Africa Scholars (ACAS) and among the voices generating support for the struggles of students across the African continent, and in the US. In 1995, in the course of the campaign to demand the liberation of Mumia Abu-Jamal, she cofounded the Radical Philosophy Association (RPA) anti-death penalty project, an organization intended to help educators become a driving force towards its abolition. From 1979 to 2003 she was a member of the Midnight Notes Collective. For several decades Federici has been working in a variety of projects with feminist organizations across the world like Women in Nigeria (WIN), Ni Una Menos, the Argentinian feminist organization, and Feminist research on violence in New York. For the last five years she has been organizing a project with feminist collectives in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

to reconstruct the history of the women, who were persecuted as witches in early modern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and raise consciousness about the contemporary witch-hunts that are taking place across the world. Federici is considered one of the leading feminist theoreticians in

Marxist feminist Marxist feminism is a philosophical variant of feminism that incorporates and extends Marxist theory. Marxist feminism analyzes the ways in which women are exploited through capitalism and the individual ownership of private property. According ...

theory,

women’s history Women's history is the study of the role that Woman, women have played in history and Historiography, the methods required to do so. It includes the study of the history of the growth of woman's rights throughout recorded history, personal achieve ...

political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, ...

, and the history and theory of the commons. – she has published more than 10 books, and hundreds of articles. Her most famous book '' Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body, and Primitive Accumulation'', has been translated in more than twenty foreign languages, and adopted in courses across the US and many other countries. Often described as a counterpoint to

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

’s and Foucault’s account of “

primitive accumulation In Marxian economics and preceding theories,Perelman, p. 25 (ch. 2) the problem of primitive accumulation (also called previous accumulation, original accumulation) of capital concerns the origin of capital, and therefore of how class distinctio ...

,” Caliban reconstructs the history of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...

, highlighting the continuity between the capitalist subjugation of women, the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and the colonization of the Americas. It has been described as the first history of capitalism with women at the center. Federici's work in Caliban has crystallized her reputation as a member of the

Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...

and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

theoretical canon.

Background

Federici was born in Parma, Italy, in 1942. She moved to the US in 1967 to study for a PhD in philosophy at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

with support from a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

. She taught at the

in Nigeria, and was Associate Professor and later Professor of Political Philosophy and International Studies at New College of

. She was co-founder of the International Feminist Collective, and an organizer with the wages for housework campaign. In 1973, she helped start Wages for Housework groups in the US. In 1975 she published ''Wages Against Housework,'' the book most commonly associated with the wages for housework movement. She also co-founded the

(CAFA), and was involved with the Midnight Notes Collective. In 1995, she co-founded the Radical Philosophy Association (RPA) anti-death penalty project. Federici lives in

Park Slope, Brooklyn A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

, with her partner

George Caffentzis __NOTOC__ George Caffentzis (born 1945) is an American political philosopher and an autonomist Marxist. He founded the Midnight Notes Collective, is a founder member of the co-ordinator of the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa and a profes ...

. In March 2022 Federici was amongst 151 international feminists signing ''Feminist Resistance Against War: A Manifesto'', in solidarity with the Feminist Anti-War Resistance initiated by Russian feminists after the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Scholarly contributions

Federici's best known work, '' Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation'', expands on the work of

Leopoldina Fortunati Leopoldina Fortunati (born 18 July 1949) is an Italian feminist, theorist, and author. Her influences include Mariarosa Dalla Costa, Antonio Negri, and Karl Marx. Work She is the author of ''The Arcane of Reproduction: Housework, Prostitution, La ...

investigating the reasons for the witch hunts of the early modern period, but giving a feminist interpretation. In it, she argues against the popular interpretation of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

's concept of

which is often viewed as a necessary precursor for

. Instead, she posits that primitive accumulation is a fundamental characteristic of capitalism itself—that capitalism, in order to perpetuate itself, requires a constant infusion of expropriated capital. Federici connects this expropriation to women's unpaid labour, both connected to reproduction and otherwise, which she frames as a historical precondition to the rise of a capitalist economy predicated upon wage labor. Related to this, she outlines the historical struggle for the commons and the struggle for

communalism Communalism may refer to: * Communalism (Bookchin), a theory of government in which autonomous communities form confederations * , a historical method that follows the development of communities * Communalism (South Asia), violence across ethnic ...

. Instead of seeing capitalism as a liberatory defeat of

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...

, Federici interprets the ascent of capitalism as a reactionary move to subvert the rising tide of communalism and to retain the basic social contract. She situates the institutionalization of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

and

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

, as well as the

heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

and

witch-hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern pe ...

trials, burnings, and torture at the center of a methodical subjugation of women and appropriation of their labor. This is tied into colonial expropriation and provides a framework for understanding the work of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

, and other proxy institutions as engaging in a renewed cycle of primitive accumulation, by which everything held in common—from water, to seeds, to our genetic code—becomes privatized in what amounts to a new round of

enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

Publications

Books

*(1975)
Wages Against Housework
'. Bristol: Published jointly by the Power of Women Collective and the Falling Wall Press. Link goes to full text of the book. * (1984, with

) ''Il Grande Calibano: Storia del corpo sociale ribelle nella prima fase del capitale''. Milan: Franco Angeli *(2004) "Il Femminismo e il Movimento contro la guerra USA", in DeriveApprodi #24 *(2004) '' Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation''. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia. License
online copy
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

. *(2012
''Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Struggle''
Brooklyn/Oakland: Common Notions/PM Press. Links to full text:
epubpdf
*(2018)
Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons
'. Oakland, CA: Kairos/PM Press. *(2018)
Witches, Witch-Hunting, and Women
'. Oakland, CA: PM Press *(2020)
Beyond the periphery of the skin: rethinking, remaking, reclaiming the body in contemporary capitalism
'. Oakland, CA: PM Press *(2021) ''Patriarchy of The Wage: Notes on Marx, Gender, and Feminism.'' Oakland, CA: PM Press.

As editor

* (1995) (ed.) ''Enduring Western Civilization: The Construction of the Concept of Western Civilization and Its "Others"''. Westport, CT, and London: Praeger. *(2000) (ed.) ''A Thousand Flowers: Structural Adjustment and the Struggle for Education in Africa''. Africa World Press. *(2000) (eds.) ''African Visions: Literary Images, Political Change, and Social Struggle in Contemporary Africa''. Westport, CT, and London: Praeger.

Articles

Free online access:
Feminism and the Politics of the Commons
'The Commoner'', 2011
On capitalism, colonialism, women and food politics, Politics and Culture 2009 (2) - Special Issue on Food (&) Sovereignty

Witch-Hunting, Globalization, and Feminist Solidarity in Africa Today, ''The Commoner'', 2008Precarious Labour: A Feminist Viewpoint, 2008Notes on the edu–factory and Cognitive Capitalism
2007 (with

)
''Theses on Mass Worker and Social Capital''
(1972, with Mario Montano)

(with George Caffentzis)

* ttp://www.commoner.org.uk/03federici.pdf ''The great Caliban:The struggle against the rebel body'' from ''Caliban & the Witch''
''All the World Needs a Jolt: Social Movements and Political Crisis in Medieval Europe''
from ''Caliban & the Witch''
''The Debt Crisis, Africa and the New Enclosures''
(1999, with Massimo De Angelis) * "Viet Cong Philosophy: Tran Duc Thao". ''TELOS'' 06 (Fall 1970). New York
Telos Press
(1985)
On Elder Care

Notes and references

External links

Silvia Federici page at LibComMidnight Notes Collective

Silvia Federici Papers
- Pembroke Center Archives, Brown University
Tribute to Silvia Federici in The Commoner
*[http://vital.seals.ac.za:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:19989?site_name=GlobalView&view=null&f0=sm_creator%3A%22Federici%2C+Sylvia%22&sort=null "Academic Freedom and the Enclosure of Knowledge in the Global University"] by Silvia Federici at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. 19 September 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Federici, Silvia Living people American Marxists American political philosophers Women Marxists Feminist historians Hofstra University faculty Marxist feminists Autonomism Women's historians Feminist philosophers American women philosophers 21st-century American historians American women historians 1942 births Italian emigrants to the United States Italian Marxists Italian feminists 20th-century Italian historians Italian women historians Italian women philosophers American expatriates in Nigeria People of Emilian descent Italian socialist feminists University of Port Harcourt faculty University at Buffalo alumni 21st-century American women writers Marxist theorists American socialist feminists