Meritocracy is a much-debated concept in both academia and society in general. Previous studies mostly defined meritocracy in terms of talent and effort. However, even if there exists an academic acceptance of the complexity and the multitude of dimensions of meritocracy in general, little has been said about the cultural prerequisites of meritocracy. This shows a need to be explicit about exactly what is meant by the term ‘meritocracy’. This paper aims to share new light on prerequisites of meritocracy with the help of Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological studies of symbolic capital, with the backdrop understanding of Adam Smith’s theory on necessities. Furthermore, the study aims by adopting a reflexive approach of Bourdieu’s theories, to construct a new theoretical framework, set out to define the phenomena of meritocracy and its cultural prerequisites.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-367177 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Brengdahl, Martin |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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