Catalogue Number
NMLH.2023.113
Object Name
Poster
Title
Capitalism, a system of exploitation of the many by the few
People
Lenin; Jayaben Desai
Events
Grunwick
Date
1972-1982
Description
The Poster Collective was a collective formed in 1971 at the Slade School of Art,  a group formed to initially produce posters in response to the miners strike and on the wars in both Vietnam and Ireland. It was formed on the basis of developing a coherent visual style, which addressed the political issues of the time. This included the armed struggles against colonialism in Africa, the struggle of women for equal rights and the continuing struggle against racism. The collective was active in the 70's and 80's, producing posters on a wide range of issues, including for educational purposes. The group was not-for-profit and used a variety of hand-printing techniques to create their posters. This is a black, red and white poster, with both photographs and text. The title of the poster is 'Capitalism, a system of exploitation of the many by the few.' The other text on the poster reads, "proletariat and wealth are opposites, as such they form a whole they are two forms of the world of
private property. Private property, as private property, as wealth, is forced to maintain itself and consequently to maintain its opposite, the proletariat. The proletariat, on the contrary, is forced as proletariat. To work for its own abolition and thus for the condition which makes it proletariat - private property. Strikes which arise out of the very nature of capitalist society, signify the beginning of the working class struggle against that system of society. | A strike teaches workers to understand what the strength of the employers and what the strength of the workers consists in; it teaches them not to think of their own employer alone and not of their own immediate workmates alone but of all the employers, the whole class of capitalists and the whole class of workers. Every strike brings thoughts of socialism very forcibly to the workerâs mind, thoughts of the struggle of the entire working class for emancipation from the oppression of capital. Lenin." There are
photographs of several protests and pickets, showing people holding up placards. The top left image shows someoine holding money. The largest image is of a Grunwick poster, titled "Defend workers right to organise" with an image of Jayaben Desai on the front. This poster is in our collection, see NMLH.2001.12. There is a fold on the top left of this poster, and a tear on the bottom left.
