The ideals of “free labor,” “fair trade,” and abolition affirm the humanity and freedom of individuals and the justice of equal exchange. Yet, alongside these egalitarian ideals is the rise of meritocracy, a competitive hierarchy in an individualist market order in which everyone shares in the dream of rising to the top through their own labor. This book examines the relationship between meritocracy and capitalism. Though meritocratic ideals can be viewed as emancipatory, they also affirm a “necro-economics” in which only some can succeed, while others must fail. Most work on meritocracy treats it as a twentieth century concept. In contrast, Emma J. Kast locates its deeper roots in the writings of heterodox figures such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, W.E.B. Du Bois, and F.A. Hayek, revealing how the notion of deservingness according to labor contribution is both embraced and challenged in the history of economic thought.

Emma J. Kast is visiting scholar in political economy in the Department of Society, Culture, and Thought at Bennington College, USA.