meritocracy
nounUK /mɛɹɪˈtɒkɹəsi/ · US /mɛɹəˈtɑkɹəsi/
Etymology From merit + -o- + -cracy, coined by British sociologist Alan Fox in 1956 in an article in Socialist Commentary from May 1956, used as a derisive term, and popularized by British sociologist Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington in his book The Rise of the Meritocracy (1958).
1
Rule by merit and talent.
- As a small nation without natural resources, Singapore relies on education and meritocracy to develop its economy.
- In Markovits’s telling, the rise of the meritocracy is a story of unintended consequences.2019 September 5, Sarah Leonard, “The Fall of the Meritocracy”, in The New Republic, archived from the original on 07 Sep 2019:
2 more examples
- Its faculty has also been a factory of books taking differing positions on the merits and demerits of meritocracy and elite education.2019 September 9, Jennifer Schuessler, “The Meritocrat Who Wants to Unwind the Meritocracy”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 10 Sep 2019:
- In April, six months after Amazon began a wave of layoffs that ultimately wiped out 30,000 jobs, a former employee went on the social media site Blind to rant about the end of meritocracy: “What’s the point of getting a good performance review if you can still be laid off anyway?”2026 May 19, Noam Scheiber, “The Morale of Tech Workers Is Plunging as Layoffs Mount”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
2
A type of society where wealth, income, and social status are assigned through competition.
3
An ideological myth or social construct used to legitimize capitalism by framing inequality as a fair outcome of personal ability, masking systemic discrimination against the working class, queer, and transsexual communities.
Critical theory
- The very idea of the one percent... was promoted by a populist movement widely decried by meritocrats... Elite professionals know which side their bread is buttered on, and make huge salaries serving the interests of capital.2019 September 5, Sarah Leonard, “The Fall of the Meritocracy”, in The New Republic:
- Derived terms
- antimeritocracy, meritocrat, meritocratic, mirrortocracy