Littler, Jo. 2018. Young and old meritocracy: from radical critique to neoliberal tool. Renewal: A Journal of Social Democracy, 26(1), pp. 40-51. ISSN 0968-5211 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

‘Meritocracy’ today is generally understood to involve the idea that a fair social system is one in which people can work hard, activate their talent and achieve social success. This credo has come to be ‘common sense’ within modern society. There is more-than-ample evidence, primarily through his own journalistic and social media output, that Toby Young believes that dramatic levels of inequality – the opposite of ‘a level playing field’ – are justifiable (he has often gone on record defending the aristocracy). It is also well known, to those with enough of the relevant cultural capital, that Michael Young’s 1958 bestseller The Rise of the Meritocracy critiqued the concept. The book was a satire, with the first half documenting the expansion of democracy in Britain, and the second imagining a sci-fi dystopia featuring a black market trade in brainy babies. The New Republic columnist Jeet Heer tweeted on 1 January: ‘Michael Young was the great theorist of meritocracy. Toby Young is the living refutation of meritocracy’

Item Type:	Article
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Media, Communications and Cultural Studies
Dates:	Date Event 30 March 2018 Accepted 23 April 2018 Published
Item ID:	38368
Date Deposited:	19 Feb 2025 15:15
Last Modified:	19 Feb 2025 15:43
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/38368

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