능력주의, 말과 담론이 걸은 역설의 길을 벗어나기

Abstract

The word meritocracy originally emerged as a term for radical criticism of mainstream views that justified social inequality. But in the course of its historical development, it has been changed to the ideology of the right that emphasized equality of opportunity and competition. The development of meritocracy in Korea is similar. In today’s Korean society, the meritocracy has become a logic of hate praising the winner and criticizing the looser, but in its beginning, meritocracy was regarded as reformative. Liberalists, who took power under the IMF crisis, believed that it was reform to achieve ‘true meritocracy’ through ‘equality of opportunity’ and ‘fair competition.’ Throughout the Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun governments, meritocracy was combined with factors such as market economy, competition, equality of opportunity, human capital, and social investment, and so on. Meritocracy has become a personnel principle of companies and government, and investment in human capital has been strengthened in terms of human competitiveness. At this time, meritocracy became a key component of neoliberal governmentality. As discourse and policy were concentrated on meritocracy, the reduction of inequality itself became a forgotten agenda. Now we have to abandon the image of a ladder of ascension to ride on. The reduction of inequality itself should be on the key political agenda.