Ben Waber reviewed Against Meritocracy
A Scathing Philosophical Rebuke
5 stars
Littler has penned an absolute banger, ripping the meritocracy myth to shreds by philosophically and historically dissecting its foundations. She doesn't spend as much time examining the ridiculousness of defining merit as a single, universal metric as I would've liked, but after a brief examination of that glaring issue she rips into the sociological and economic biases that stack the deck in favor of those with resources and privilege in defining and benefiting from whatever definition of "merit" suits them. This is a work of philosophy so some of the usual framing gripes apply (e.g. occasional confusion of capitalism with neoliberalism, too much focus on pop culture criticism), but this is minor. Overall this is a must read book. Highly recommend
Littler has penned an absolute banger, ripping the meritocracy myth to shreds by philosophically and historically dissecting its foundations. She doesn't spend as much time examining the ridiculousness of defining merit as a single, universal metric as I would've liked, but after a brief examination of that glaring issue she rips into the sociological and economic biases that stack the deck in favor of those with resources and privilege in defining and benefiting from whatever definition of "merit" suits them. This is a work of philosophy so some of the usual framing gripes apply (e.g. occasional confusion of capitalism with neoliberalism, too much focus on pop culture criticism), but this is minor. Overall this is a must read book. Highly recommend