A historian reviews Pablo Agüere’s award-winning Netflix film Akelarre and explains why it is one of the best films around on the early modern witch-hunt.
Three women dressed in Middle-Age period garb as alewives.
Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images
The role of witches in society relates directly to the role of women in society. And during times of social upheaval and changes, witches represent access to women’s power.
With President Donald Trump’s frequent use of the term “witch hunt” he paints himself as a victim. The women persecuted in one of history’s darkest chapters should not be forgotten so easily.
Seventy-eight percent of the people executed for witchcraft in New England in the late 17th and early 18th centuries were women.
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When philosopher Rebecca Tuvel asked if racial identity could be as fluid as gender, she unleashed a storm of controversy and anger. Instead of shutting her down, we should listen and debate.
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science, OCAD University/Associate Professor of Sociology, Gender Studies and Cultural Studies (retired), Queen's University, Ontario