Merit discourse masks accumulated caste privilege as ahistorical neutrality
Evidence
âMeritâ is the weapon of choice for an Indian elite that has dominated a system by allegedly divine authorisation, and denied knowledgeâof certain kindsâto the subordinated castes for thousands of years. Now that it is being challenged, there have been passionate privileged-caste protests against the policy of reservation in government jobs and student quotas in universities. The presumption is that âmeritâ exists in an ahistorical social vacuum and that the advantages that come from privileged-caste social networking and the establishmentâs entrenched hostility towards the subordinated castes are not factors that deserve consideration. In truth, âmeritâ has become a euphemism for nepotism. â Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The AnnotatedâŠ, 74
Categorization
Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims
- DEEPTHINKING: A dense crystallization of the whole merit-versus-reservation debate: it names the enabling assumption (merit in a vacuum) and collapses it â merit as a euphemism for nepotism is a paradigmatic formulation of this argument.
- XREF: Directly echoes Ambedkarâs own âgraded inequalityâ argument and mirrors western critiques of meritocracy as rationalized privilege (e.g. Sandel).
Related
- Merit arguments mask entrenched caste privilege rather than reflecting fair competition (similarity 0.93)
- Invocations of merit mask privileged-caste nepotism and opposition to reservation. (similarity 0.90)
- Merit selection transforms rather than removes politics from judicial selection (similarity 0.87)