In this interview, we speak with feminist historian and philosopher, Silvia Federici. She talks about her book Caliban and The Witch. Her work focuses on witch-hunting and primitive accumulation as processes that are integral to Capitalism’s historical and continued reproduction. In the interview, we speak about the political and economic significance of the persecutory institution of witch-hunting. She describes the contemporary political stakes of witch-hunting, highlighting the roles that the IMF, World Bank, and NATO play in reproducing the conditions of primitive accumulation, privatization, the degradation of the commons, and communal life. Federici explains how witch-hunting and the far-right are on the rise across the globe, especially in Africa and South America.
We discuss how witch-hunting and patriarchy contribute to the stratification and repression of the working class. She also makes the connection between racial, colonial oppression, and patriarchal oppression, highlighting the ways in which witch-hunting traverses political contexts and histories.
Also included are amazing discussions on contemporary right-wing politics, the horrors of neo-fascism, Mormons in space, heretical sects of Christianity, accelerationism, Marx, Foucault, biopower, and feminist theory.
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