5 Assignment 02

In “The Accumulation of Labor and the Degradation of Women,” Federici explains the struggles that women were faced with during the emergence of capitalism. Land privatization led to many hardships such as evictions, increases to rent and taxes, which would lead into debt, left the people who had lived on the land before little options in how to live. As a result countless people turned into vagabonds with the threat of enslavement and death above them instead of working a wage job. Soon afterwards riots would begin and women played a part in many of them, sometimes even starting them. There were many reasons for the riots, such as the price of food rising with it not being sold or distributed to the citizens but exported to other countries. Large groups of women also took part in the riots and why they had such a strong role in the riots would be that they suffered the most from having their land taken from them. It was much harder for a woman to be a vagabond, it left them open to violence from other men and it was even more dangerous when a woman was pregnant or taking care of children. Federici stats that there were some women who would work as cooks or washers in armies but even those jobs didn’t last forever. Woman faced harder times then men due to land privatization and the jobs that were left for them weren’t valued enough for them to sustain themselves. The women of this time had no ability to gain wages and were stuck in poverty and dependence; those that did find jobs were treated worse than their male counterparts and were ignored. Working women’s wages were manipulated to further devalue their worth and labor and they had no power to stop it.

In “The Accumulation of Labor and the Degradation of Women”, Federici explores various events in which women are undervalued due to the economic interests of a nation. During the end of the middle ages and feudalism various manifestations were made to solve the steady state of economy. New strategies were developed such as privatization of land, wage competition and changes in prices to generate income. However, women struggled to have a position among the new developing system of capitalism. Federici explains that women were paid half of the wage of men. The limited amount of money they received was not enough for them to sustain their children or even themselves since prices were also rising. Consequently, they started to face starvation while the nation was more interested in importing and exporting goods to gain more profit. In addition, population began to decline but the labor force needed population to grow instead to acquire wealth. Federici argues that women were used as instruments for reproduction and on top of that they became criminals if they were to terminate their pregnancies by any cause. These events demonstrates the “degradation of women” because women were manipulated, invisible and worthless in the expansion of capitalism. Women did not have any control over their bodies or behavior. Women were meant to do domestic labor and help their husbands but their labor was underestimated because it was not productive for the nation. Regardless of their opposition towards the system overtime they continued to experience enslavement but just in different forms. Federici describe how a similar treatment towards women was repeated during the slave-trade period in relation to procreation to increase work force but she also described the wide distinction between the two. But this comparison showed how previous events marked the displacement of women among a society. These issues faced by women are still present nowadays in many places because there is a division between gender.

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.

The Second chapter “The Accumulation Of Labor and the Degradation of Women” of “Caliban and the Witch” mainly talks about the period when feudalism was about to disappear and capitalism started to appear. First of all, land privatization changed people’s life. People used to be able to supply themselves, but after the privatization, people had to work under someone. Women were thought to be at home and shareable and convenient workers people were able to use at will(97). However, in the new idea of women which was constructed after privatization, they became just a power for reproduction. Around that time, slavery was efficiently systematized in the Americas while women were used as profitable reproduction. The main reason of degradation of women was the development of legal systems for making women disadvantaged. For example, women had much fewer rights to be independent. Their action was always under surveillance, and if they do anything wrong, the punishment was heavier than men. Therefore, they had only choice that was being home and accept the social system. However, there were movement against for required working home by society, and women started reading literature which was usually about women beating up men. Because of that, men were scared of women to have power, they went against that movement. She also points out that slave seem to be equal, but even in slave society, there was obvious unequality like sexism. For example, female slaves can be attacked sexually, be pregnant. Moreover, they were weaker for starvation than men.  She thinks that capitalism would not exist if women had not turned in to instrument for reproduction because capitalism could succeed owing to low cost labor which are women and slaves. I think if women’s position were equal to men, capitalism would not work, and the society now would have been completely different.

In this chapter Federici discusses how a few different economies emerged from the crisis of feudalism. Among those were capitalism and social/economic equality in an egalitarian society. Although capitalism did not directly evolve from feudalism during this time period, it became known as the foundations of capitalism because it allowed for more economic freedom.
Since feudalism has grown weaker it has shaped the early Middle Ages. Africans during this time period were subject to cruel working conditions on plantations. Although land privatization and the Price Revolution were not enough in creating a capitalist economy it helped to create a working class.
During 16th century Europe, creations in technology and imperialization have helped stabilize their economy. Another way in which land was privatized was through enclosures, which eliminated communes and lands that were being leased. This was not very effective because it continued onto the next century and communities were not being taken into consideration.

During this time period food was scarce, and was necessary in order to develop capitalism and ultimately ended in looting and assaults in stores.

The first sign of unsustainability during the capitalist system was public assistance. This showed that Europe was unable to provide enough food and as a result had to come up with programs to help those who could not afford it. Additionally, death and sickness seemed to run rampant in lower class Europeans than upper.

Over time, Mercantilism was a new system developed that encouraged population growth to help support sustainability. However, this has led to the state having to reduce labor because of the sudden surge in population. This has resulted in the criminialization of procreation and the devaluation of women’s labor. This issue was resolved through the continuation of privatizing land.

In 1807, slaves in Europe have become a valuable asset and were encourage to procreate. This has led to an increase in sexual assault and have become profitable. Ultimately, the distress that women and slaves had to endure during these time periods have helped to shape capitalism because of their hard work and effort put into plantations.

Silvia Federici has a chapter dedicated to show how women were oppressed through political and economic conditions during the 1500s and onward called, “The Accumulation of Labor and Degradation of Women”. She specifically mentions how land privatization developed a social hierarchy, which women were often the victims of. Often the land privatization led to slavery and capitalism. Federici was able to defend these points by using certain events that occurred during that time period and these events are related to “the degradation of women”.

Federici paraphrases Alice Clark’s statement of how women’s social life were during pre-capitalist and it showed how women really did not have much social power or a place where their opinion mattered besides the commons. The commons was a very popular place in the peasant community. It was filled with festivals, games, and gatherings, and it became a social function even for women. Alice Clark discusses that the commons was the center of their social life because it was the one place where their voice would be heard and people actually cared (Clark 1968:51, Federici 2004:81). Federici even mentions during the 16th and 17th century, merchant capitalists would take advantage of cheap labor that could be found in rural areas in Europe. Products were often produced at the lowest costs. These industries that could be allowed this kind of unusual economy was only made possible on the labor of women and children (Federici 2004:81). Women were often taken advantage of in the economy and it was easy to do so because they had no social power.

Federici was able to show that women were being oppressed for such a long time by even going back to feudal Europe. Women especially during that time could not do anything but work because not only were they lacking social power but economic as well. They mostly did not have money which meant no social power, which made them suffer through oppression.

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.

In “The Accumulation of Labor and the Degradation of Women,”, Silvia Federici starts off by introducing the history of the labor force and its association with slavery. She compares the exploitation found in the labor force to the exploitation found in slavery. Federici gave us an overview of the work-force in Europe during the 1500’s-1900’s and was able to demonstrate to us how the events of that time lead to the degradation of women. For example, between the 16^th-17^th century, women lost their job opportunities and were forced to procreate. Laws and policies endorsed this and anyone who went against it was punished. Women’s bodies became more of a public territory than a personal one. Thus women were reduced to objects rather than humans, degrading their status. Moreover, at the start of land privatization in Europe in the late 1500’s, women still maintained some jobs, but due to the unequal pay they were unable to support themselves. This situation led to women being dependent on men, reinforcing the male dominant hierarchy. As more and more policies and obstacles were put, women started losing further opportunities to work.

In my opinion, much like Davis, Federici is showing us how women were oppressed and unfairly treated through institutional forces, such as policies. From the many events given to us in this chapter, as well as from the reading last week, it appears to me that oppressive policies, such as not allowing minorities to vote or not allowing women to own property, are in put in place to keep the power with the controlling group (men). White men’s (those who were in leadership positions) desire for power led them to mistreat women, much like their mistreatment of minority racial groups. Therefore, the more restrictions they place on other members of society (women, racial minorities, etc.), the more they can keep absolute power for a longer time and stop the other groups from gaining any power in society or government.

Silvia Federici acknowledges the relationship between class and gender to political status, to be a very unjust one. She talks about the enclosures, where people were getting their land taken away. People had worked in those lands for a living, but with the enclosures it turned their lives around. Workers were not getting wages in the proper manner that they should’ve. But people did not keep their arms crossed. Even women took it into their own hands to try to bring some justice for all.

For women it was more significant, for them it was their only means of an income. The enclosure brought the value of women down, by taking away laws that protected their rights to protest. They were tring to silenece women so they would not be able to take jobs “for” men. Women were left with no option but to go to being the typical mothers. It was again, a way of oppressing the power women have when they come together. The goal was to degrade women, as an effort to get some control back. Men knew that if all doors were closed for women, they would have to become completely dependent on the abilities of the men. With the development of capitalism, everyone had to fight for what they wanted. Nothing was to be shared equally into everyone, women had analyzed this and decided to work for themselves to be independent. But with the enclosure women were obligated to follow whatever the men wanted. Any image that they had built in the period before, was now being taken away. Categorizing women of the weaker sex amd therefore could get the same treatment in the job as mem did. But in reality, they were being exploited by these men and helping them get to where they wanted to be which is very ironic.

Women in historical times often held the lowest ranking in societies. Their purpose in life was to cater to a man’s needs and to raise children. In Silvia Federici’s work she discusses the degradation of women and certain events that led to the demise of women. In Federici’s work she discusses how Karl Marx capitalism introduced the concept of primitive accumulation which discusses how class distinctions often determined who made the money in society. Women were often seen as the sufferers of this because they often relied on their husband for financial support and this would lead to their rights being taken away from them since they did not contribute anything to the economy. Women as of now in many areas of the world currently work inside the house which often lead to the husbands having full control over all of the decision making in the family. In past events, Federici discusses how land privatization held women back and prevented them from making any type of impact on society. She discusses how all the land were currently being given to the males and how women were a part of the peasant community and would rely on the commons for their freedom and livelihood. The degeneration continued when textile workers particularly women were having their wages lowered and their hours increased due to land expropriation. Most women would rather be enslaved than work for a wage. They often turned to becoming nomadic or even vagabonds to survive. The expropriation of land led to women fending for themselves and it often led to high unemployment rates for women and it would often put more power into the hands of males because they knew they could do whatever they wanted with their wives because of how dependent they were on them.