A lecture by Silvia Federici (Hofstra University), moderated by Jack Halberstam (ISSG)
One of the most worrisome phenomena of our time is the return, in various countries, of true witch-hunts, a persecution that, like in the past, affects particularly women. As the same time, we are witnessing a new interest in witches among feminists worldwide, as the figure of the witch is taken as the symbol of anti-patriarchal rebellion. In her presentation, Silvia Federici will discuss the significance of these different developments, and the strategies that feminist and other social movements are organizing to end the persecution of “witches”.
This event is cosponsored by the Institute for the Study of Sexuality and Gender.
Silvia Federici is Emerita Professor of Political Philosophy and International Studies at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. In 1972 she was among the founders of the International Feminist Collective, the organization that launched the Campaign for Wages for Housework in the United States and abroad. She has also been active in the anti-globalization and the anti–death penalty movements and was a founding member of the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa, which for more than a decade documented the struggle of African students against the austerity programs imposed by the IMF and the World Bank on their countries.
She is the author of many essays on political philosophy, feminist theory, cultural studies, and education. Among her published works are The New York Wages for Housework Committee: Theory, History, Documents 1972–1977 (2017), coedited with Arlen Austin; Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Struggle (2012); and Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation (2004).