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Person

Silvia Federici

Nationality:

American
Occupatuon:

Left-Wing Author
Political Party:

N/A
Residence:

Brooklyn, New York

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Silvia Federici is a Marxist and feminist writer and teacher who is on the governing council of the socialist organization Progressive International. 1 2 3

In 1975, Federici published the book Wages Against Housework, which classifies domestic work as “unwaged labor.” 4 5 She has claimed inspiration from the left wing Black Lives Matter movement, 6 supported the far-left Occupy Wall Street movement, said that capitalism is “necessarily committed to racism and sexism,” 7 and considers a fetus having legal rights to be “absolutely insane.” 8

Career

In 1967, Federici moved to the United States from Italy to study on a Fulbright Scholarship. During this period, she claimed to be “inspired” by anti-war student movements in Buffalo, New York. She also closely followed the U.S. civil rights movement, anti-colonial movements in Algeria, and the rise of the Chinese Communist Party under Mao Tse-tung with “great interest.” 9

Federici became involved with feminism in 1972 after reading Women and the Subversion of the Community. 10 That same year, she realized that “activism against capitalism” must be international. 11 She then co-founded the International Feminist Collective, which launched the Campaign for Wages for Housework in 1974. 12 13 14 This organization consisted of no more than 20 women and maintained close ties with the Italy-based Triveneto Committee and the United Kingdom-based Power of Women Collective. 15

In 1975, she published the book, Wages Against Housework, which classified domestic work as “unwaged labor” and considers housework as gendered economic oppression and exploitation upon which all of capitalism rests. 16 17

Throughout the 1990s, Federici was a member of the radical journal, Midnight Notes, and was active in the anti-death penalty and anti-globalization movements. 18 19 In 1991, she founded the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa, which opposed International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank-led austerity programs in African countries. 20

In 1995, Federici co-founded the far-left anti-death penalty project, Radical Philosophy Association, as part of a campaign to demand the release of former Black Panther Party leader and convicted murderer Mumia Abu-Jamal. 21 22

In addition to Wages Against Housework, Federici also published Caliban and the Witch, which has been translated into more than 20 foreign languages, 23 and has written other works on left-wing topics including the “feminist struggle,” Marxism, gender ideology, reproduction, 24 anti-globalization, the “worldwide struggle against capitalist globalization,” and “feminist reconstruction of the commons. 25 26

Federici has said that capitalism is “necessarily committed to racism and sexism” and denigrates women, colonial subjects, immigrants, and the descendants of African slaves. 27 She has said that racism cannot exist without sexism, that a fetus having legal rights is “absolutely insane,” 28 and has argued that the church and state have waged deliberate campaigns to force women to give birth in service of an emerging capitalist economy. 29

As of January 2024, Federici is on the governing council of the far-left organization Progressive International 30 and is a member of the Feminist Research on Violence Collective. 31 From 1987 to 2005, she was a professor of political philosophy and international studies at Hofstra University and the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria. 32 33

Personal Information

Silvia Federici was born in Parma, Italy, in 1942. After World War II, she was influenced by the labor and other left-wing movements in Parma, which was a Communist Party stronghold. She has lived in Brooklyn, New York, on-and-off since 1970. 34

References

  1. “”Naming the Work” | An Interview with Silvia Federici.” The Drift. October 21, 2020. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.thedriftmag.com/naming-the-work/.
  2. “Current.” Progressive International. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://progressive.international/council/.
  3. “Bringing the struggle against the death penalty to the campus: an educational and organizational perspective. A talk by Silvia Federici.” Brown University Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. November 15, 2023. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.brown.edu/academics/race-ethnicity/events/bringing-struggle-against-death-penalty-campus-educational-and-organizational-perspective.
  4. Interview by Jill Richards. “Every Woman Is a Working Woman.” Boston Review. December 19, 2018. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/every-woman-working-woman/.
  5. Kisner, Jordan. “The Lockdown Showed How the Economy Exploits Women. She Already Knew.” New York Times Magazine. Updated February 22, 2021. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/magazine/waged-housework.html.
  6. “Naming the Work” | An Interview with Silvia Federici.” The Drift. October 21, 2020. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.thedriftmag.com/naming-the-work/.
  7. Kisner, Jordan. “The Lockdown Showed How the Economy Exploits Women. She Already Knew.” New York Times Magazine. Updated February 22, 2021. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/magazine/waged-housework.html.
  8. “Naming the Work” | An Interview with Silvia Federici.” The Drift. October 21, 2020. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.thedriftmag.com/naming-the-work/.
  9. Alana Moraes and Maria A.C. Brant. “Silvia Federici: “Our Struggle Will Not Succeed Unless We Rebuild Society”.” International Journal on Human Rights. September 2016. Accessed January 28, 2024. https://sur.conectas.org/en/silvia-federici/
  10. Kisner, Jordan. “The Lockdown Showed How the Economy Exploits Women. She Already Knew.” New York Times Magazine. Updated February 22, 2021. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/magazine/waged-housework.html.
  11. Interview by Jill Richards. “Every Woman Is a Working Woman.” Boston Review. December 19, 2018. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/every-woman-working-woman/.
  12. “Bringing the struggle against the death penalty to the campus: an educational and organizational perspective. A talk by Silvia Federici.” Brown University Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. November 15, 2023. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.brown.edu/academics/race-ethnicity/events/bringing-struggle-against-death-penalty-campus-educational-and-organizational-perspective.
  13. Kisner, Jordan. “The Lockdown Showed How the Economy Exploits Women. She Already Knew.” New York Times Magazine. Updated February 22, 2021. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/magazine/waged-housework.html.
  14. “Bringing the struggle against the death penalty to the campus: an educational and organizational perspective. A talk by Silvia Federici.” Brown University Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. November 15, 2023. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.brown.edu/academics/race-ethnicity/events/bringing-struggle-against-death-penalty-campus-educational-and-organizational-perspective.
  15. Interview by Jill Richards. “Every Woman Is a Working Woman.” Boston Review. December 19, 2018. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/every-woman-working-woman/
  16. Interview by Jill Richards. “Every Woman Is a Working Woman.” Boston Review. December 19, 2018. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/every-woman-working-woman/.
  17. Kisner, Jordan. “The Lockdown Showed How the Economy Exploits Women. She Already Knew.” New York Times Magazine. Updated February 22, 2021. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/magazine/waged-housework.html.
  18. “Bringing the struggle against the death penalty to the campus: an educational and organizational perspective. A talk by Silvia Federici.” Brown University Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. November 15, 2023. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.brown.edu/academics/race-ethnicity/events/bringing-struggle-against-death-penalty-campus-educational-and-organizational-perspective.
  19. “Midnight Notes Collective.” Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.midnightnotes.org/mnpublic.html.
  20. “Bringing the struggle against the death penalty to the campus: an educational and organizational perspective. A talk by Silvia Federici.” Brown University Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. November 15, 2023. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.brown.edu/academics/race-ethnicity/events/bringing-struggle-against-death-penalty-campus-educational-and-organizational-perspective.
  21. Interview by David Palumbo-Liu and Azeezah Kanji. “Speaking Out of Place: SILVIA FEDERICI discusses Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons.” The Creative Process. https://www.creativeprocess.info/spirituality-mindfulness/speaking-out-of-place-silvia-federici-xjxtl.
  22. Kisner, Jordan. “The Lockdown Showed How the Economy Exploits Women. She Already Knew.” New York Times Magazine. Updated February 22, 2021. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/magazine/waged-housework.html.
  23. Interview by David Palumbo-Liu and Azeezah Kanji. “Speaking Out of Place: SILVIA FEDERICI discusses Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons.” The Creative Process. https://www.creativeprocess.info/spirituality-mindfulness/speaking-out-of-place-silvia-federici-xjxtl.
  24. “Bringing the struggle against the death penalty to the campus: an educational and organizational perspective. A talk by Silvia Federici.” Brown University Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. November 15, 2023. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.brown.edu/academics/race-ethnicity/events/bringing-struggle-against-death-penalty-campus-educational-and-organizational-perspective.
  25. “Silvia Federici.” PM Press. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://blog.pmpress.org/authors-artists-comrades/silvia-federici/.
  26. Kisner, Jordan. “The Lockdown Showed How the Economy Exploits Women. She Already Knew.” New York Times Magazine. Updated February 22, 2021. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/magazine/waged-housework.html.
  27.   Kisner, Jordan. “The Lockdown Showed How the Economy Exploits Women. She Already Knew.” New York Times Magazine. Updated February 22, 2021. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/magazine/waged-housework.html.
  28. “Naming the Work” | An Interview with Silvia Federici.” The Drift. October 21, 2020. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.thedriftmag.com/naming-the-work/.
  29. Tolentio, Jia. “Is Abortion Sacred?” July 16, 2022. Accessed January 28, 2023. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/essay/is-abortion-sacred.
  30. “Current.” Progressive International. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://progressive.international/council/.
  31. “Bringing the struggle against the death penalty to the campus: an educational and organizational perspective. A talk by Silvia Federici.” Brown University Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. November 15, 2023. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.brown.edu/academics/race-ethnicity/events/bringing-struggle-against-death-penalty-campus-educational-and-organizational-perspective.
  32. “Bringing the struggle against the death penalty to the campus: an educational and organizational perspective. A talk by Silvia Federici.” Brown University Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. November 15, 2023. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.brown.edu/academics/race-ethnicity/events/bringing-struggle-against-death-penalty-campus-educational-and-organizational-perspective.
  33. “Silvia Federici.” PM Press. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://blog.pmpress.org/authors-artists-comrades/silvia-federici/.
  34. Kisner, Jordan. “The Lockdown Showed How the Economy Exploits Women. She Already Knew.” The New York Times Magazine. February 17, 2021. Updated February 22, 2021. Accessed via Web Archive January 28, 2024. https://archive.ph/GUnbu.
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