21|03|15 The Tyranny of Merit | Conversation with political philosopher Michael Sandel
The Tyranny of Merit | Conversation with political philosopher Michael Sandel | Monday 15 March 2021 | 20.00 – 21.15 hrs | Online | Radboud Reflects and Faculty of Philosphy, Theology and Religious Studies
Podcast | Video | Verslag – Michael Sandel: The Tyranny of Merit
"Het was een groot genoegen Sandel's antwoorden te horen en daarmee meer toelichting op zijn boek. Soms vond ik de vragen wat breedsprakig gesteld, maar Sandel was er duidelijk mee in zijn sas. Dank je wel aan de organisatoren." (Uit een deelnemersevaluatie)
Announcement - Are our individual successes and failures in life the result of our own efforts? And if so, would a society based on the principle of merit be a just one? Political philosopher Michael Sandel holds that this is not the case. Meritocracy creates an arrogant elite, while leaving a vast majority of people angry and humiliated. Come and listen to the renowned American philosopher Michael Sandel on the tyranny of merit, the ethics of humility and the future of democracy. See full announcement below.
Aankondiging - Zijn onze successen en mislukkingen in het leven het resultaat van onze eigen inspanningen? En zo ja, zou een samenleving op basis van het principe van verdienste een rechtvaardige samenleving zijn? Politiek filosoof Michael Sandel stelt dat dit niet het geval is. Meritocratie creëert een arrogante elite en laat tegelijkertijd de overgrote meerderheid van de mensen boos en vernederd achter. Luister naar de bekende Amerikaanse filosoof Michael Sandel over de ‘tirannie van verdienste’, het belang van bescheidenheid en de toekomst van de democratie. Zie de volledige aankondigingstekst onderin.
English Review - Michael Sandel: The Tyranny of Merit
We live in a society where our status is largely determined by our merits. But to what extent are our successes and failures the result of our own efforts? Is a society based on the principle of merit a just one? Michael Sandel, professor of political philosophy at Harvard University, argues in his newest book The Tyranny of Merit that this is not the case. Meritocracy has created an arrogant elite and leaves the majority of the people estranged. In this livestream, organised by Radboud Reflects in collaboration with the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies at Radboud University, Michael Sandel engaged in conversation with students and staff members of Radboud University, to explain his position. The conversation was moderated by Christoph Lüthy, professor of philosophy and faculty dean. To kick off the event, rector magnificus Han van Krieken spoke some words of welcome.
The urgency of The Tyranny of Merit
As Sandel preferred discussion over lecturing, the evening was structured as a series of small conversations. First up was Christoph Lüthy, who asked about the urgency of the book and why it was written now. Sandel said that several events that took place in 2016 motivated him to write The Tyranny of Merit: “I have thought about the relation between meritocracy and justice for a long time. I wrote this book in response to the events of the Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. We saw a rise of authoritarian populist movements around the world. How to make sense of it?”
Sandel’s analysis is recognisable from a European viewpoint, as we have seen a rise in populism and anti-meritocratic rhetoric. Yet at the same time, parts of the book seem particular to American society. Lüthy inquired to what extent the anger against meritocracy is related to the skewedness of the school system in the United States. As primary schools and high schools in the US are funded with property tax, rich neighbourhoods have far higher school budgets than poor neighbourhoods. Sandel: “I am in favour of better funding. The US system is non-progressive and a source of injustice. But I am not sure if I agree with the suggestion that social-democratic welfare states are exempt from these issues. There too, the sentiment against the elite is growing. The backlash against mainstream parties has something to do with xenophobia and nationalism, but also with the sense that people with high credentials look down on others.”
According to Sandel, we have created societies of winners and losers. Not only in the US and the United Kingdom, but in many European democracies as well. Those who landed at the top have come to believe that this is purely due to their own success. In this, they ignore the role that luck has played. This is at the heart of the Tyranny of Merit.
Redistribution of goods
The next question was asked by Cherelle de Leeuw, Master’s student in political science and city councillor in Nijmegen. She asked Sandel whether there is a moral basis for the redistribution of goods? Sandel’s main criticism is that meritocracy leaves the winners believe that the winnings are due to their own doings, and therefore “they owe little to the ones who struggle; after all, they have no one to blame but themselves. This is corrosive of the common good and of mutual respect. What we need, then, is to open up to the idea of shared responsibility.”
Representation in democracy and academia
Marleen Huizingh, Master’s student in philosophy, noticed that in the acknowledgments of his book, Sandel mainly consulted people with excellent credentials. She wanted to know how we would be able to create better representation of social classes, within democracy as well as academia. Sandel agreed with her that representation is an important issue. Representative government and higher education have insufficient focus on broadening representation.
As an example, Sandel mentioned the introduction of universal suffrage: “Before universal suffrage, only people with property could vote. This established a dominance of people with a degree within representative bodies. After introduction of universal suffrage, the balance became better. But in the past few decades, we have (again) approached the old levels. Most people do not have a college degree, and yet almost all representatives do. This requires attention.”
Recognition and the labour market
Agnes Akkerman, sociologist and full professor of industrial relations, continued the conversation. Akkerman has done empirical research on merit and has indeed found, in line with Sandel, that people without a college degree feel looked down upon. But she also found a relation with employment contracts: people in unsecured labour, both those with and without a college degree, feel looked down upon. Akkerman asked: “Can your analysis explain these findings? And could reorganisation of the labour market not be an easier, perhaps sufficient solution to the problem?”
Sandel found Akkerman’s analysis fascinating, since flexible and insecure labour is going to be more and more prominent in the gig economy. Sandel thought her findings were in line with his writings. He explained: “It is easy to see a connection between insecure labour contracts and people feeling looked down upon. In both cases the value of work is not properly recognised. Regulating employment contracts would be an important step in fixing these issues, but not a sufficient step. We should still address the relation between elite and working class. For that we should reward work properly, both financially and regarding dignity. This requires changing regulations, but also rethinking attitudes.”
Contributive justice
The floor was then given to Florian van der Zee, research Master’s student in political philosophy. Van der Zee: “The idea of meritocracy can be summarised as ‘You get what you deserve’. This has two sides: the exultation of merit and a moral agreement between winnings and desert. Against this idea you introduce the notion contributive justice and the redistribution of both recognition and wealth. But if we take the project of contributive justice seriously, doesn’t that reintroduce the notion of getting what you deserve?”
Sandel agreed that contributive justice, which addresses the question of dignity of work, seems to reinstate an alignment between the contributions we make and the honour we receive. Is that not a reintroduction of appreciation of merit? That depends on how we characterise the ideal of human agency, according to the political philosopher: “The allure of meritocracy is that we can make it if we try: we are self-made and self-sufficient. This is the idea of human agency. I am challenging not the promise of human agency as such, but rather construing human agency and freedom in individualistic terms. The individual picture misses not only the role of luck, but also how we are indebted for our successes. We should reconstruct agency as a collective effort, something we do together in a community.”
Sortition as a solution?
The evening’s final questions were posed by Mathijs van de Sande, assistant professor of political philosophy, who wondered if the case that Sandel makes for lottery in higher education, could also be applied on democracy. Would sortition be a solution to overcome the tyranny of merit? Sandel thought this path was worth exploring: “Some versions of sortition could be a response to the tyranny of merit. But sortition in government is not a full alternative for the current system. Sortition may reduce the role of money in elections, and also the overemphasised role of the credentials of representatives. But I do not want to entirely give up on representation in government.”
By: Thijs Meeuwisse
Video
Podcast
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Announcement/Aankondiging
Nederlands volgt Engels.
Are our individual successes and failures in life the result of our own efforts? And if so, would a society based on the principle of merit be a just one? Political philosopher Michael Sandel holds that this is not the case. Meritocracy creates an arrogant elite, while leaving a vast majority of people angry and humiliated. Come and listen to the renowned American philosopher Michael Sandel on the tyranny of merit, the ethics of humility and the future of democracy.
Winners and losers
Sandel argues that meritocracy – the ideal that people are rightly moved into positions of success and power on the basis of their talent, abilities and efforts – is at the heart of our polarized public life. Many highly educated ‘winners’ in today’s society suffer from meritocratic hubris. They care little about the common good and look down upon those who have not made it. This inflames the divide with the lower educated and other groups that are left behind in our global economy, and fuels extreme political polarization. To overcome this political strife, Sandel argues we should reconsider our attitudes towards success and failure and the way we organize our global society.
Humility
Those who have flourished should look in the mirror: for is their success truly their own doing? Or is it also a matter of luck? A talented soccer player might be successful in today’s society if he trains hard. Would he have been born during the Renaissance, his dribbling skills would have been useless as society would have preferred a fresco painter. Therefore, winners should be more grateful and humble, and ought to recognize how other people like their parents, teachers, and society as a whole, contributed to their successes. Sandel holds that in doing so we will be able to move towards a society that is more affirming of the dignity of work. This will pave the road towards a politics of the common good.
Beyond merit
During this evening we will talk with Michael Sandel about the problems of meritocracy, the cultivation of civic virtues and the importance of reviving our understanding of the common good. How does meritocracy contribute to inequality? What role does education play in this? Is it possible for people to choose the common good over their individual successes? And what kind of changes are necessary to move towards a more humble and just society?
Political philosopher Mathijs van de Sande and sociologist Agnes Akkerman will moderate the conversation. They are joined by Radboud Universitymaster’s students in philosophy Marleen Huizingh and Florian van der Zee and master’s student in political science Cherelle de Leeuw. During this interactive program there is plenty of room for digital questions from the audience.
This program is in English.
About the speaker
Michael Sandel is professor of political philosophy at Harvard University. He has been heralded as “the most relevant living philosopher” and a “rock‐star moralist” and wrote numerous books on the most vexing moral and civic questions of our time. Sandel’s legendary Harvard course ‘Justice’ has been viewed by tens of millions of people. His books What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets and Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? were international bestsellers and have been translate into twenty-seven languages.
In 2020 he wrote his latest work: The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?. In this book he analyses how the liberal pursuit of meritocracy has betrayed the working classes and fostered a populist backlash. He offers an alternative way of thinking about success and argues for a politics that puts dignity and humility at its center.
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Nederlands
Zijn onze successen en mislukkingen in het leven het resultaat van onze eigen inspanningen? En zo ja, zou een samenleving op basis van het principe van verdienste een rechtvaardige samenleving zijn? Politiek filosoof Michael Sandel stelt dat dit niet het geval is. Meritocratie creëert een arrogante elite en laat tegelijkertijd de overgrote meerderheid van de mensen boos en vernederd achter. Luister naar de bekende Amerikaanse filosoof Michael Sandel over de ‘tirannie van verdienste’, het belang van bescheidenheid en de toekomst van de democratie.
Winnaars en verliezers
Sandel stelt dat het ideaal van de meritocratie – een samenleving waarin de sociaaleconomische positie van elk individu is gebaseerd op zijn of haar talent, capaciteiten en inspanningen – de basis vormt voor de extreme polarisatie in onze democratie. Veel hoogopgeleide ‘winnaars’ in de samenleving lijden aan meritocratische hoogmoed. Ze geven weinig om het algemene belang en kijken neer op hen die niet succesvol zijn. Dit vergroot de kloof met laagopgeleiden en andere groepen die worden achtergesteld in onze mondiale economie. Om het tij te keren, moeten we volgens Sandel onze houding ten opzichte van succes en verdienste herzien.
Bescheidenheid
Succesvolle mensen moeten zichzelf een spiegel voorhouden: want is hun succes werkelijk te danken aan henzelf? Of is het ook een kwestie van geluk? Een getalenteerde voetballer kan anno 2021 succesvol worden door hard te trainen. Maar als hij was geboren tijdens de Renaissance, zouden zijn dribbel-skills nutteloos geweest zijn. De samenleving zat toen meer te wachten op frescoschilders. Bescheidenheid zou winnaars dus sieren. Ze moeten erkennen hoe hun ouders, leraren, en de maatschappij in zijn geheel, hun succes mogelijk maken. Door ons te realiseren dat succes niet altijd afhankelijk is van verdienste, kunnen we volgens Sandel richting een samenleving bewegen waarin waardigheid en het algemeen belang centraal staan.
Voorbij verdienste
Tijdens deze avond praten we met Michael Sandel over de problemen van de meritocratie, de waardigheid van werk, en de toekomst van de democratie. Hoe draagt een focus op verdienste bij aan ongelijkheid? Welke rol speelt onderwijs hierin? Is het mogelijk voor mensen om het algemeen belang te verkiezen boven hun individuele succes? En wat voor concrete veranderingen zijn nodig om onze samenleving werkelijk meer bescheiden en rechtvaardig te maken?
Politiek filosoof Mathijs van de Sande en arbeidssocioloog Agnes Akkerman van de Radboud Universiteit zijn de gespreksleiders. Ze worden vergezeld door masterstudenten filosofie Marleen Huizingh en Florian van der Zee en masterstudent politicologie Cherelle de Leeuw, allen van de Radboud Universiteit. Tijdens dit interactieve programma is er voldoende ruimte voor het publiek om digitaal vragen te stellen.
De voertaal is Engels.
Over de spreker
Michael Sandel is hoogleraar politieke filosofie aan Harvard University. Hij staat bekend als de “rockster van de moraal” en “de Bob Dylan van de politieke filosofie”. Hij schreef meerdere boeken over de meest prangende morele en maatschappelijke vragen van onze tijd. Sandels legendarische cursus ‘Justice’ is door tientallen miljoenen mensen bekeken. Zijn boeken Niet alles is te koop: de morele grenzen van de markt en Rechtvaardigheid: wat is de juiste keuze? waren internationale bestsellers en zijn vertaald in zevenentwintig talen. In 2020 verscheen zijn meeste recente boek: De tirannie van verdienste: over de toekomst van de democratie.
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