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Assignment 02

Silvia Federici’s The Accumulation of Labor and the Degradation of Women voices the political and socioeconomic struggles women endured as a direct cause of land privatization. Prior to land privatization the public was able to provide for themselves, they  could harvest their own crops and were able to sell those crops to gain profit for themselves. After the development of land privatization, the public was forced to work under the conditions others set out for them. These conditions did not benefit common man and eminently stripped women of the little independence and respect they had.

The creation of enclosures heavily effected women as they could not migrant as easily as their male counterparts. Women were responsible for caring for children and withstanding pregnancies (Federici, 2004: 83). These conditions sparked anti-enclosure movements. Mass riots were led by women whom destroyed enclosures and were then imprisoned. Prior to masses of women rioting the courtroom rarely hosted women as husbands were held responsible for their wives. This law was later eradicated to hold women accountable for their actions and ultimately lead to the exploitation of women. During the 16th and 17th century women were being executed due to the illegal acts of abortion and witchcraft. Women were being executed for absurd accusations of witchcraft.Furthermore, women did not posses the power to their own bodies as abortions lead to death. Additionally, both women in the old and new world were being exploited. In Europe the proletariat women was ordered to not procreate as the state did not want to children who solely depended on assistance and ultimately weakened the state. In the new world women were forced to “breed” in order to give birth to a new generation of working slaves. In both cases the women’s body is being exploited and degraded for the sake of profit. This again reinforced the mentality that women were considered second class citizens.