Caliban And The Witch is a history of the body in the transition to capitalism. Moving from the peasant revolts of the late Middle Ages to the witch-hunts and the rise of mechanical philosophy, Federici investigates the capitalist rationalization of social reproduction. She shows how the battle against the rebel body and mind are essential conditions for the development of labour power and self-ownership, two central principles of modern social organization (Autonomedia). The historical […]
The Suffragettes are widely seen as the pinnacle of Women’s radical action in the early Twentieth Century. However, beyond the passion and drive of such unladylike militancy, were the organisation and aims of this movement as radical as the means used to try to obtain it? Were the Suffragettes alone in the struggle for female emancipation? And how far can the granting of limited female suffrage in 1918 be attributed to the exploits of these women? This pamphlet analyses this iconic 'women's' […]
Steve Higginson Audio
Audio from Steve's talk at Hydra Book on March 8th 2012 (International Women's Day): From the Great Plague to the Plague of Women: Purity, Misogyny and Female Enclosure
From the Great Plague to the Plague of Women: Purity, Misogyny and Female Enclosure
Thursday 8th March Hydra Bookshop: 34 Old Market Street, Bristol, BS2 0EZ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Price: donations Steve Higginson will interpret the re-birth of misogyny by looking at the period of the Great Plague, 1345 onwards, and the great moralising discourse that swept across Europe post plaque. Located within this discourse of purity, women were viewed as both cause and effect of the plague, and were to be “enclosed” accordingly within the domestic sphere. The purity campaign against women was […]
These are the slides from Anny Cullum's talk Votes for Ladies: The Suffragette Movement 1903-1914. Download the pdf file here.
By Anny Cullum The campaign for female suffrage began in 1865 with the introduction of the first private members bill for an amendment for female enfranchisement. Suffrage groups first campaigned democratically and using constitutional means, lobbying, petitioning etc and won some small victories in terms of women becoming more involved in public life; sitting on school boards and becoming poor law guardians. However, nearly 40 years later women were still disenfranchised and in 1903 a group […]
