Against meritocracy : culture, power and myths of mobility / Jo Littler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Littler, Jo, 1972- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social mobility.

Plutocracy.

Power (Social sciences).

Physical Description:

xiv, 236 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.

Summary:

Meritocracy today involves the idea that whatever your social position at birth, society ought to offer enough opportunity and mobility for 'talent' to combine with 'effort' in order to 'rise to the top'. This idea is one of the most prevalent social and cultural tropes of our time, as palpable in the speeches of politicians as in popular culture. In this book Jo Littler argues that meritocracy is the key cultural means of legitimation for contemporary neoliberal culture - and that whilst it promises opportunity, it in fact creates new forms of social division. Against Meritocracy is split into two parts. Part I explores the genealogies of meritocracy within social theory, political discourse and working cultures. It traces the dramatic U-turn in meritocracy's meaning, from socialist slur to a contemporary ideal of how a society should be organised. Part II uses a series of case studies to analyse the cultural pull of popular 'parables of progress', from reality TV to the super-rich and celebrity CEOs, from social media controversies to the rise of the 'mumpreneur'. Paying special attention to the role of gender, 'race' and class, this book provides new conceptualisations of the meaning of meritocracy in contemporary culture and society. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Genealogies 21

1 Meritocracy's genealogies in social theory 23

2 Rising up: Gender, ethnicity, class and the meritocratic deficit 48

3 Meritocratic feeling: The movement of meritocracy in political rhetoric 78

Part II Popular parables 113

4 Just like us?: Normcore plutocrats and the popularisation of elitism 115

5 #Damonsplaining and the unbearable whiteness of merit 147

6 Desperate success: Managing the mumpreneur 179.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781138889545

1138889547

9781138889552

1138889555

OCLC:

957388368