This is a really interesting text exploring women and the costs to women (the violence against women) inherent in shifts to capitalism, primarily in Europe (which we'll hit on later.) Federici is drawing together a LOT here, and in some cases, drawing together vast bodies of literature that don't speak very much to each other. In some cases, I was left wondering if her reach was too broad here, because I wasn't sure it all came together. At the beginning of the book, she discussed how, rather than focus on the titular Caliban, she was going to focus on the witch, but for me, the focus on European women overwhelmed the mentions of indigenous or African women, and how colonization deeply shaped not just developments of capitalism in Europe, but also ideas about womanhood more generally. Federici gestures at it sometimes, and works really hard to claim that poor women are demonized before colonization happens, but I'm not sure she really gives the claim as much weight or engages with it as much (especially thinking about African women and reproductive capacity, etc. etc.)

Which is not to say she's not making an impressive argument here, just that maybe I wasn't convinced by all parts of her argument. Regardless, I think this is a really fascinating look at the gendered aspects of the closures of the commons and beyond. I'm not sure I'm as well-read in Marxist history as I should be to approach this book, but I felt like I could mostly understand her arguments in spite of that fact.