‘—

Federici

In Federici’s work she details the rise of capitalism in Europe. Specifically she addresses the ways this shift from a feudalism to capitalism hurt women in particular. One detail I found compelling was the presence of women in peasant riots. She writes that the riots were driven by food scarcity caused by the hoarding of goods and the raising prices of food items. Women were the most affected by a shift to capitalism because the privatization of land and the creation of wages left them with no way to provide for themselves. Women made only fractions of the already meager wage men earned and were also not allowed access to many jobs. They were then driven into becoming housewives who were completely reliant on men to even feed themselves. Pushing women into the home created a devaluing of things seen as “women’s work” such as the rearing of children. For this reason women were often the agitators for peasant riots or made up a large percentage of the rioters. By the 16th and 17th century famine and starvation was commonplace something that put women and children at the highest risks. She writes that out of the thirty one food riots in France during the 17th Century six were initiated by women. They also made up large numbers in even the ones they didn’t start. The Cordoba uprising in 1652 is notable because it began from a woman mourning the loss of her son to starvation.  Women’s ties to the home at this time made them the “care-takers” of their families which created an even deeper desperation to secure food. These conditions led to the degradation of women because the lack of opportunities for gaining income were not accessible leading them to commit petty theft, prostitute themselves or fall victim to the rampant “witch-hunts” of the era.