The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern WorldThe Times (UK) book of the year! Meritocracy: the idea that people should be advanced according to their talents rather than their birth. While this initially seemed like a novel concept, by the end of the twentieth century it had become the world's ruling ideology. How did this happen, and why is meritocracy now under attack from both right and left? In The Aristocracy of Talent, esteemed journalist and historian Adrian Wooldridge traces the history of meritocracy forged by the politicians and officials who introduced the revolutionary principle of open competition, the psychologists who devised methods for measuring natural mental abilities, and the educationalists who built ladders of educational opportunity. He looks outside western cultures and shows what transformative effects it has had everywhere it has been adopted, especially once women were brought into the meritocratic system. Wooldridge also shows how meritocracy has now become corrupted and argues that the recent stalling of social mobility is the result of failure to complete the meritocratic revolution. Rather than abandoning meritocracy, he says, we should call for its renewal. |
Contents
Family Power | |
Nepotism Patronage Venality | |
Plato and the Philosopher Kings | |
China and the Examination State | |
The Chosen People | |
The Golden Ladder | |
Europe and the Career Open to Talent | |
Britain and the Intellectual Aristocracy | |
The United States and the Republic of Merit | |
The Measurement of Merit | |
The Meritocratic Revolution | |
Girly Swots | |
Other editions - View all
The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World Adrian Wooldridge No preview available - 2021 |
The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World Adrian Wooldridge No preview available - 2023 |
The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World Adrian Wooldridge No preview available - 2023 |
Common terms and phrases
A. H. Halsey ability academic Allen Lane American argued aristocracy Boris Johnson Britain British Cambridge candidates cent century China Chinese civil service cognitive elite College Confucian Confucius culture Cyril Burt democracy Donald Trump dynasties economic Émile Durkheim equality Europe examinations exams favour Francis Galton French genius global grammar schools Harvard hierarchy History honour human Ibid individual inequality inherited institutions intellectual intelligence IQ tests Ivy League Jewish Jews John king Labour liberal lives London mandarins married merit meritocracy meritocratic idea meritocratic revolution Michael Young modern natural nepotism open competition opportunity Oxbridge Oxford parents particularly Party patronage philosopher philosopher kings Plato political population principle privilege problem produced race reform Republic rich rule scholars scholarship selection social mobility society success talent Trump University Press virtue women working-class York young