The Mass Politics in Gissing's Demos:A Story of English Socialism
In Demos:A Story of English Socialism,Gissing places the London masses,represented by the working class,on the political stage and portrays them in an anti-democratic manner.He depicts the London masses as a group lacking rationality and criticizes their violence.Gissing fears the populace's violent involvement in the struggle for political discourse and points out that such violence will inevitably lead to social unrest in Britain.Although Demos is an anti-working-class novel,Gissing narrates the issue of biopolitics through the depiction of the socialist reforms initiated by Mutimer.He shapes Mutimer into the role of the"shepherd,"as described by Foucault,who leads the masses to better living conditions through reasonable governance strategies and welfare systems.In this way,Gissing expresses his fear of the masses'pursuit of democracy,his critique of their violent actions,and his compassion and concern for their living conditions.
George Gissingmassesanti-democracyviolencebiopolitics
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