Meritocracy is a fairy tale masking class as individual choice

Evidence

The pure economists went even further. According to their impartial science, social hierarchies were not only natural but also just, because a person’s class was a result of individual choices. The theoretical assumption is that in a society governed by the market, anyone capable of maintaining virtuous economic behavior can succeed. This is the fairy tale of meritocracy. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 222

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to reader’s interest in austerity as ideological foundation; connects to critiques of meritocracy in contemporary inequality discourse. — connects to: Meritocracy belief blames excluded individuals for their own exclusion — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 711; Meritocracy myth rebrands the American Dream as anyone-can-start-an-internet-company aspiration. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 663; The meritocracy myth masks structural inequality and justifies tech wealth — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 673 (+16 more)

Broader Connections

• The meritocratic promise of market society disguised its classist foundations. #corroborates (0.95) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1571
• Neoclassical economics replaced class analysis with individualistic merit narratives #expands (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 30
• Working class people rationalize the status quo through meritocratic beliefs #corroborates (0.85) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2232
• Invocations of merit mask privileged-caste nepotism and opposition to reservation. #exemplifies (0.85)
• Racial democracy made inherited racial inequalities appear to be personal choices #corroborates (0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1223
• Belief in meritocracy yields psychological satisfactions beyond logical consistency #expands (0.80) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2198
• Redefining success as occupational merit denies class status’s self-esteem threat #expands (0.80) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2169
• Individual moral courage defies class, education, and political determinants #contradicts (0.80) — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 48
• Individualization is institutionalized and reshapes class inequality analysis #expands (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1725
• Merit-based selection demands equality of birth and inheritance advantages #expands (0.75) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 908
• Individualism intensifies the moral idealization of wealth as society fragments #expands (0.75)
• Individuality itself is an illusion produced by the law of value #expands (0.75) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 932
• Sensitivity to merit and equity emerges early and universally in children #contradicts (0.70) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 657