THE TYRANNY OF THE MERIT MICHEAL SANDAL

“Am I one of the Elect?” was Weber’s portrayal of the question that served as the source of anguish for the Calvinists. That same question of self-legitimacy looms over us today, but it has been deprived of its theological undertones. Rather, we contextualise our own legitimacy within a much different frame than the Calvinists. The founding myth of today’s society, the source of legitimacy to which we may appeal is not divinity but meritocracy.

It’s a book with a remarkably simple premise and theme. Meritocracy, no matter the political allegiance today, is a belief subscribed to by nearly all. It’s a seemingly rewarding ideal, that appears as deeply intuitive for most. People should get what they deserve, they should be rewarded for the hard work they put in. Yet, “perfect Meritocracy,” Sandel writes, “banishes all sense of gift or grace.” Identification of one’s position as a reflection of merit is ill-conducive to any thought cast on the common good. Under meritocracy we may achieve fairness blazing down this path, but is it justice Sandel asks of us?

Nowhere are the destructive effects of meritocracy more apparent than the way they’ve been implemented in higher-educationthe “animating heart” of Meritocracy calls it. Here, it takes a toll on both the winners as well as losers. We can point to a specific number score, a specific GPA cutoff-point to say just how much we deserved the place we now occupy, but to whose gain? In our search for legitimacy, the corrosive effects of meritocracy ensnares all, as one finds oneself in the same purgatory as before but chasing the shadow of new ambitions. All the while, the losers must come to the grips with their apparent “failure.”

Sandel’s “The Tyranny of Merit” right down to the title is a deeply uncomfortable read, but an important one where ones most foundational beliefs are challenged. It’s a text with the capacity to contextualise what may be called the moral externalities of neoliberalism and globalism. Especially for all first-year IBP’ers, a text that seems especially fruitful in providing a frame to understand so many of those texts we read in Management & Organisation, all texts where one of the central themes is the face-work performed to legitimate the position of a company and ones wages. Maybe, Sandel concludes, it’s not a good idea to base society solely on the aspiration of equality of opportunity, nor to base one’s entire life on being more meritorious than the next.