Drawing on rich historical research, Silvia Federici maps the connections between the previous forms of enclosure that occurred with the birth of capitalism and the destruction of the commons and the “new enclosures” at the heart of the present phase of global capitalist accumulation. Considering the commons from a feminist perspective, this collection centers on women and reproductive work as crucial to both our economic survival and the construction of a world free from the hierarchies and divisions capital has planted in the body of the world proletariat. Federici is clear that the commons should not be understood as happy islands in a sea of exploitative relations but rather autonomous spaces from which to challenge the existing capitalist organization of life and labour.

Silvia Federici is a feminist activist and scholar whose writing and political activities have contributed enormously to the broad Autonomist tradition. Known for her intellectual generosity, sharp, nonconformist thought, and searing critiques of capitalist society, Federici’s work has inspired the generation of social activists associated with the rise of the alter-globalization movement.

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Peter Linebaugh is an author and historian who specializes in British history, Irish history, labor history, and the history of the colonial Atlantic. He is a member of the Midnight Notes Collective. He was a student of British labor historian E.P. Thompson, and received his PhD in British history from the University of Warwick in 1975. He is the author of several books including The Magna Carta Manifesto: Liberties and Commons for All; Stop, Thief! The Commons, Enclosures, and Resistance; and The Incomplete, True, Authentic, and Wonderful History of May Day.

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