Primitive accumulation and the witch hunt

Abstract

This article addresses the theme of primitive accumulation, a concept developed by Marx in Capital. For Marx, the concept of primitive accumulation deals with what he calls the prehistory of capital, the moment of transition from feudalism to capitalism, in which there is an original accumulation of capital necessary for the capitalist system to establish itself and generate its new cycles of accumulation. Marx presents several historical events of brutal violence that are part of primitive accumulation. However, the article presents Silvia Federici's critique of Marx based on the work Caliban and the Witch: Marx does not take into account an essential factor for primitive accumulation and the birth of capitalism, that is, the witch hunt and the history of women who, despite their specific peculiarities, had global and essential consequences for the establishment of capitalism. Finally, the article reconstructs, based on Federici's work, how the witch hunt was a decisive factor for original accumulation.