Caliban and the Witch

Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation

By: Silvia Federici

Narrated by: J. Lee Craig

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. Re-recorded in 2025.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2004 Silvia Federici (P)2022 Post Hypnotic Press Inc.

A marxist/feminist perspective on renaissance history

A bold take on how the transition to capitalism forever imposed and changed gender roles in society. A thoroughly researched text, in very academic style, which is convincing to its primary argument.

However it left me wanting... more. There is a fair bit of cherry picking historical examples, and an obsession with federiccis theory as 'THE' explanation for all historical events. Overall the text feels like a research paper thats been stretched out into a nonfiction title, and could have benefited from more time spent asking "what does this mean?" "how do we apply this understanding to life today?"

Amazing, Well Researched Novel, Poorly Narrated

Comprehensive history of the relationship between the persecution of women during the centuries long transition from feudalism to capitalism. I wish the reader had a modicum of inflection, and that they practiced pronunciation before tackling a book of this depth! The quality of the writing, though, outweighs the short comings of the narrator.

incredible thesis

the narration was mediocre, but not impossible to listen to

the book itself is dense, and full of academic language. if you can parse it, it's an incredible thesis on the connection between the subjugation of women and the rise of capitalism. really stellar work

witch & feminist

I thought that this was a really interesting book overall and I would recommend this book as long as you listen to it at like 1.75 x speed as I did.
I did not enjoy the narrator & if it wasn't for my habit of listening to book on higher speed I couldn't listen to this audiobook without falling asleep.

Important research to understand what we’re living in and how we got here

Silvia Federici’s work answered so many questions about why gender roles are what they are today, how capital and the shift toward money economy changed our communities etc. I wish I’d found this book in my youth.