[ecrea] New book -- Against meritocracy: culture, power and myths of mobility

New book:
Against meritocracy: culture, power and myths of mobility Jo Littler


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.

Contents:

Introduction: Ladders and Snakes

Part I: Genealogies

Chapter 1: Meritocracy’s genealogies in social theory
Chapter 2: ‘Rising up’: gender, ethnicity, class and the meritocratic 
deficit
Chapter 3: The movement of meritocracy in political rhetoric

Part II: Popular parables

Chapter 4: Just like us? Normcore plutocrats and the popularisation of 
elitism
Chapter 5: #Damonsplaining and the unbearable whiteness of ‘merit’
Chapter 6: Desperate success: Managing the mumpreneur

Conclusion: Beyond neoliberal meritocracy


Just published by Routledge

https://www.routledge.com/Against-Meritocracy-Culture-power-and-myths-of-mobility/Littler/p/book/9781138889552

For book review copies contact (Jennifer.Vennall /at/ tandf.co.uk)


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