Catalogue Number
NMLH.1992.241
Object Name
Membership Card
Title
THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (S.D.F.). SOCIALISATION OF THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION DISTRIBUTION AND EXCHANGE
Place
Hackney & London & England & UK
People
Southgate, Walter; Crane, Walter
Creator(s)Crane, Walter
Description
The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established in 1884. It was Britain's first Marxist organization, while the Independent Labour Party, the Clarion movement, and the Labour Party were more socialist or social democratic. As a Marxist organization, the SDF had little faith in Parliamentary politics. It was inevitable, Marxists said, that workers would sooner or later, by industrial struggle, secure the means of industrial production and trade and that social distinctions would disappear. Production would be for the benefit of everyone, not the wealthy few.
The SDF initially attracted some prominent artists, including William Morris and Walter Crane, and Crane's design on the front of this SDF membership card is similar to his images in 'Cartoons For The Cause'.
Other fundraising SDF stamps, around 1909, have the slogan: 'Penny Nails In The Coffin Of Capitalism'
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