Witches appear often in the popular culture, but often as women less than 50 years old. In current films and movies, witches do not appear as the wonderfully haggard crones that they have been for centuries in folklore and other literature.
W
itches are often not politicized, and stand curiously outside of a feminist/queer framework. Silvia Federicci, an Italian anarcha-feminist, brings witches back into conversation with leftist ideals in her groundbreaking scholarly work, Caliban and the Witch (2004).
Her central thesis is that the witch “crazes” of history are deeply political in nature, and not simply attributable to sexism or ageism. Within this interpretation, the witch trials are part of a centuries-long process of capitalist development, eroding the “Commons” i.e. shared or communal lands, and parceling everything to (male) individuals.
There are some drawbacks to Federicci’s argument, primarily her disregard for any kind of citations, and back-and-forth leaps through history. However, the book brings forth a radical opinion – that the reasons for ageism go beyond age itself, and likewise with gender/race/class.
In relationship to Queer Studies, Caliban and The Witch is a crucial text. In the same sense that queerness is posited as a “persistent desire” (Nestle) that has survived through the centuries against oppression, the idea of the powerful older woman – the witch – can be similarly linked.
Additional Reading on Witches
Briggs, R. (2007). The witches of Lorraine. Oxford University Press.
Ehrenreich, B., (2010). Witches, Midwives, & Nurses: A history of women healers. Feminist Press.
Federici, S., (2003). Caliban and the witch. Autonomedia
Federici, S., (2018). Witches, witch-hunting, and women. PM Press
Levack, B., (1994). The witch-hunt in in early Modern Europe, Longman.
