Meritocracy from below: dreams, divisions, and the struggle for merit in a stigmatised neighbourhood

Born, Anthony Miro ORCID: 0000-0001-5559-7586 (2025) Meritocracy from below: dreams, divisions, and the struggle for merit in a stigmatised neighbourhood. City. ISSN 1470-3629

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Abstract

The ideal of a meritocratic society continues to exert significant normative power in political and public discourse, including in discussions about marginalised spaces and neighbourhoods. However, many urban scholars have been reluctant to critically engage with the normative assumptions underpinning the meritocratic ideal. Researchers working within neoclassical urban economics and positivist urban sociology, in particular, have often embraced and reproduced the notion of a more meritocratic society as a noble, if not inherently obvious and ordinary, ideal. This article argues for a critical understanding of meritocracy among urban researchers by exploring the consequences of how this ideal is internalised and reproduced in marginalised spaces. Through empirical research conducted in a stigmatised neighbourhood in Germany, I examine how meritocratic narratives contribute to sharp divisions among residents and hinder collective action. However, this does not mean that confronting the meritocratic ideal is impossible.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author
Divisions:	Methodology
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Date Deposited:	27 May 2025 10:42
Last Modified:	26 Jun 2025 07:51
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/128177

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