Against Meritocracy
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 t...
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| Formato: | Online |
| Idioma: | inglês |
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Taylor & Francis
2025
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| Acesso em linha: | ONIX_20250530T135512_9781317496045_18 |
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| _version_ | 1869522529635270656 |
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| author | Littler, Jo |
| author_browse | Littler, Jo |
| author_facet | Littler, Jo |
| author_sort | Littler, Jo |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | 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. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-160906 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| publisherStr | Taylor & Francis |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1609062025-07-29T15:00:09Z Against Meritocracy Littler, Jo Neoliberal Meritocratic Low Income Minority Neighborhoods social mobility Public Sector Spending Cuts social inequality Social Reproduction media and society Meritocratic Discourse popular culture Desperate Success cultural studies Universal Caregiver Model Jo Littler Meritocracy Universal Breadwinner Model Daddy Warbucks Mommy Bloggers Project Greenlight Reality Tv Show UK Version Prime Ministerial Personas Fox’s Article Universal Breadwinner Meritocratic Dream Plutocratic Elites Alan Fox thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology::JHBA Social theory thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies::JBCC1 Popular culture thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies::JBCT2 Media studies: TV and society thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPW Political activism / Political engagement::JPWC Political campaigning and advertising 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. 2025-05-31T05:33:44Z 2025-05-31T05:33:44Z 2025-05-30T12:00:36Z 2017 book ONIX_20250530T135512_9781317496045_18 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/103260 9781317496045 9781315712802 9781317496021 9781032522029 9781138889545 9781138889552 9781317496038 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/160906 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/103260/1/9781317496045.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/103260/1/9781317496045.pdf Taylor & Francis Routledge 10.4324/9781315712802 10.4324/9781315712802 fa69b019-f4ee-4979-8d42-c6b6c476b5f0 Knowledge Unlatched b818ba9d-2dd9-4fd7-a364-7f305aef7ee9 9781317496045 9781315712802 9781317496021 9781032522029 9781138889545 9781138889552 9781317496038 Knowledge Unlatched (KU) KU Select 2018: HSS Backlist Books Routledge 250 Oxford [...] open access |
| spellingShingle | Neoliberal Meritocratic Low Income Minority Neighborhoods social mobility Public Sector Spending Cuts social inequality Social Reproduction media and society Meritocratic Discourse popular culture Desperate Success cultural studies Universal Caregiver Model Jo Littler Meritocracy Universal Breadwinner Model Daddy Warbucks Mommy Bloggers Project Greenlight Reality Tv Show UK Version Prime Ministerial Personas Fox’s Article Universal Breadwinner Meritocratic Dream Plutocratic Elites Alan Fox thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology::JHBA Social theory thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies::JBCC1 Popular culture thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies::JBCT2 Media studies: TV and society thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPW Political activism / Political engagement::JPWC Political campaigning and advertising Littler, Jo Against Meritocracy |
| title | Against Meritocracy |
| title_full | Against Meritocracy |
| title_fullStr | Against Meritocracy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Against Meritocracy |
| title_short | Against Meritocracy |
| title_sort | against meritocracy |
| topic | Neoliberal Meritocratic Low Income Minority Neighborhoods social mobility Public Sector Spending Cuts social inequality Social Reproduction media and society Meritocratic Discourse popular culture Desperate Success cultural studies Universal Caregiver Model Jo Littler Meritocracy Universal Breadwinner Model Daddy Warbucks Mommy Bloggers Project Greenlight Reality Tv Show UK Version Prime Ministerial Personas Fox’s Article Universal Breadwinner Meritocratic Dream Plutocratic Elites Alan Fox thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology::JHBA Social theory thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies::JBCC1 Popular culture thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies::JBCT2 Media studies: TV and society thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPW Political activism / Political engagement::JPWC Political campaigning and advertising |
| topic_facet | Neoliberal Meritocratic Low Income Minority Neighborhoods social mobility Public Sector Spending Cuts social inequality Social Reproduction media and society Meritocratic Discourse popular culture Desperate Success cultural studies Universal Caregiver Model Jo Littler Meritocracy Universal Breadwinner Model Daddy Warbucks Mommy Bloggers Project Greenlight Reality Tv Show UK Version Prime Ministerial Personas Fox’s Article Universal Breadwinner Meritocratic Dream Plutocratic Elites Alan Fox thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology::JHBA Social theory thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies::JBCC1 Popular culture thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies::JBCT2 Media studies: TV and society thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPW Political activism / Political engagement::JPWC Political campaigning and advertising |
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