Introduction

Meritocracy in Perspective. The Rise of the Meritocracy 60 Years On

Bibliographic Data

ID10360481
AuthorsDavid Civil (0000-0001-7271-5505, corresponding author), Joseph J Himsworth (0000-0003-1815-1176)
Year2020
Volume91
Issue2
Pages373-378
Publication date2020-03-30
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Political Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3179 • E-ISSN: 1467-923X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-923x.12839
OpenAlexW3014792030
LanguageEN
Citations received8

Sixty years after its publication, Michael Young’s The Rise of the Meritocracy remains one of the most important texts for understanding the changing intellectual politics of postwar Britain. Young’s fictional vision of a meritocratic society explores the consequences of a society where each citizen is judged according to the formula ‘I.Q. + Effort = Merit’. The successful meritocrats hoard ever‐greater rewards for themselves, crystallising into a rigid and repressive elite who rule over an increasingly powerless and depressed underclass. While the concept has evolved and adapted, the language of meritocracy is one of the great survivors of postwar British politics. In an age characterised by the rise of populist leaders and movements, as well as a backlash against educated ‘liberal elites’, revisiting, reinterpreting and re‐evaluating Young’s influential satire and the central place the concept of meritocracy occupies in the history of postwar Britain has never been more important

Art · Elite · Meritocracy · Perspective (graphical · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US