Achievement society

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Meritocracy (Engl. Achieving society , meritocracy ) the model idea of a is society in which the distribution aspired goods such as power , income , prestige and wealth in accordance with the special performance takes place, which is respectively allocated to each member of society ( performance principle , performance justice ). In a narrower sense, this means a society that creates legal foundations and political instruments to tie life chances to “performance” and that discursively agrees what is meant by this and how it is determined.

Definition of the term of service

Basically, “performance” is a property that can be ascribed to a whole spectrum of actions, in accordance with socially given conventions or considerations of usefulness. It is assumed here that in spite of labor production and service and an inevitable increase in labor productivity through automation and rationalization can be clearly attributed to the cash provided (additional) benefit individuals and their personal commitment. In addition, it depends on the power to define the quality standards for assessing performance. Achievement is usually placed in working life or in sport, but can also be viewed in other areas of life, such as family or leisure.

Achievement and achievement society in the context of sociology

Achievement as an instrument to justify social inequality and domination

Social stratification and rule are legitimized by the fact that the preferred position holders should have earned their social advantages through their own achievements. The “achievement ideology” is called upon to promote willingness to perform and to raise the work ethic, in particular by keeping hopes for social advancement ( social mobility ) alive.

Differentiation from the class society

The term “performance society ” is also used in sociology to empirically describe and explain industrial society , which is usually compared to the model of the class society .

The dichotomy of performance society / traditional society, however, only partially corresponds to historical reality, because the performance principle has more or less always existed in different ways and because there is also income without performance in "performance societies" (e.g. in the form of interest income from an inherited one Capital).

According to Pierre Bourdieu , bourgeois society is to be seen as a performance society in comparison to feudal society ; However, through inheritance law and co-opting into the leading classes, the performance principle is repeatedly broken through forms of protection . So it is usually only found in a relatively pure form for a short time, for example in Napoleonic France, before Napoleon then also placed more emphasis on nepotism and absolute devotion.

Spirit of capitalism

By tracing the “ spirit of capitalism ” back to Protestant ethics, Max Weber's studies of the sociology of religion and business ethics on the development of the “professional” can also be brought together with the emergence of the achievement society. David C. McClelland has empirically examined how the widespread achievement motivation in a society affects its level of economic development. He speaks of a “performance society” when a society has developed more rapidly. James S. Coleman claims serious loopholes in Weber's well-known analysis, over which Marx's analysis of the emergence of capitalism has advantages. Hartmut Esser criticizes the fact that McClelland's explanatory model lacks the “logic of aggregation”.

Newer research approaches

Further questions arise from the fact that it can be considered 1. to what extent the norms presented by the performance society are widespread in a given population, how and to what extent they are applied and 2. whether the image of society conveyed by this normative ideal is actually realized is. David Brooks, for example, thinks that the leadership of today's US society meets performance criteria more than ever, but has at the same time lost its reputation among the population.

It can also be examined to what extent the distribution of the national product is influenced by the effects of social stratification, i. H. whether and to what extent it is possible in a society to advance socially , to build wealth and to penetrate the economic and social elite solely through optimization of one's own human capital and through strong efforts .

See also

literature

  • David C. McClelland: The Achieving Society. D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc.: Princeton, New Jersey 1961; dt .: The performance society. Psychological analysis of the prerequisites for economic development. Stuttgart 1966.
  • Erhard Eppler: A solidarity performance society. Change of epoch after the embarrassment of the market liberals. 2011, ISBN 978-3-8012-0422-8
  • Karl Otto Hondrich, Jürgen Schumacher, Klaus Arzberger, Frank Schlie, Christian Stegbauer. With the collaboration of Johann Berens, Elmar Müller, Randolph Vollmer: Crisis of the performance society? Empirical analyzes of engagement in work, family and politics. West German publisher: Opladen 1988. ISBN 3-531-11887-0 .
  • Holger Schatz: work as rule. The crisis of the achievement principle and its neoliberal reconstruction. Münster 2005. ISBN 3-89771-429-9
  • Dirk Kurbjuweit: Our efficient life. The dictatorship of the economy and its consequences. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2003.
  • Michael Hartmann: The myth of the performance elite. Top careers and social origins in business, politics, justice and science. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / New York 2002.
  • Nina Verheyen: The invention of performance. Hanser: Berlin, 2018. ISBN 978-3446256873 .
  • Pierre Bourdieu: economic capital, cultural capital, social capital. In: Reinhard Kreckel, (ed.): Social inequalities. Social World, special volume 2, Göttingen 1983.
  • Lars Distelhorst: Achievement: The final stage of ideology. Transcript, 2014

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Klaus Arzberger: About the origins and development conditions of the performance society. In: Karl Otto Hondrich, Jürgen Schumacher, Klaus Arzberger, Frank Schlie, Christian Stegbauer . With the collaboration of Johann Berens, Elmar Müller, Randolph Vollmer: Crisis of the performance society? Empirical analyzes of engagement in work, family and politics. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1988. ISBN 3-531-11887-0 . P. 24
  2. ↑ Nina Verheyen: The Invention of Performance. Hanser Berlin, 2018. p. 65.
  3. ^ Karl Otto Hondrich, Jürgen Schumacher, Klaus Arzberger, Frank Schlie, Christian Stegbauer. With the collaboration of Johann Berens, Elmar Müller, Randolph Vollmer: Crisis of the performance society? Empirical analyzes of engagement in work, family and politics. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1988, p. 10
  4. ↑ Heiner Flassbeck : The infinite service provider lie. In: Wirtschaft und Markt , January 2010.
  5. ↑ Frank Schlie: The variety of service terms. in: Karl Otto Hondrich, Jürgen Schumacher, Klaus Arzberger, Frank Schlie, Christian Stegbauer. With the collaboration of Johann Berens, Elmar Müller, Randolph Vollmer: Crisis of the performance society? Empirical analyzes of engagement in work, family and politics. Westdeutscher Verlag: Opladen 1988, p. 61
  6. ↑ Erhard Eppler : Eine solidarian Leistungsgesellschaft , 2011, p. 72: “Achievement is first and foremost work, but one that other people benefit from. It does not have to be the employer, it can also be children who are cared for, brought up, encouraged and supported. It can also be a city if the mayor is confirmed at the end of his term of office what he has “done” for his city. Or the audience of a violin concerto, when the playing of a violinist touched their hearts. "
  7. ^ Klaus Arzberger: About the origins and development conditions of the performance society. In: Karl Otto Hondrich, Jürgen Schumacher, Klaus Arzberger, Frank Schlie, Christian Stegbauer . With the collaboration of Johann Berens, Elmar Müller, Randolph Vollmer: Crisis of the performance society? Empirical analyzes of engagement in work, family and politics. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1988, p. 24; See also the review "The Myth of the Elite " .
  8. ^ Klaus Arzberger: About the origins and development conditions of the performance society. In: Karl Otto Hondrich, Jürgen Schumacher, Klaus Arzberger, Frank Schlie, Christian Stegbauer . With the collaboration of Johann Berens, Elmar Müller, Randolph Vollmer: Crisis of the performance society? Empirical analyzes of engagement in work, family and politics. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1988, p. 24 f.
  9. ^ Klaus Arzberger: About the origins and development conditions of the performance society. In: Karl Otto Hondrich, Jürgen Schumacher, Klaus Arzberger, Frank Schlie, Christian Stegbauer . With the collaboration of Johann Berens, Elmar Müller, Randolph Vollmer: Crisis of the performance society? Empirical analyzes of engagement in work, family and politics. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1988, p. 28
  10. ^ Klaus Arzberger: About the origins and development conditions of the performance society. In: Karl Otto Hondrich, Jürgen Schumacher, Klaus Arzberger, Frank Schlie, Christian Stegbauer . With the collaboration of Johann Berens, Elmar Müller, Randolph Vollmer: Crisis of the performance society? Empirical analyzes of engagement in work, family and politics. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1988, p. 23
  11. ↑ James S. Coleman: Foundations of Social Theory. Volume 1: Actions and Action Systems. Scientia Nova R. Oldenbourg Munich 1991. ISBN 3-486-55838-2 . P. 7 ff.
  12. ↑ Hartmut Esser: Sociology. General basics. Campus Verlag Frankfurt / New York 1993. ISBN 3-593-34960-4 . P. 99f
  13. ^ Karl Otto Hondrich, Jürgen Schumacher, Klaus Arzberger, Frank Schlie, Christian Stegbauer. With the collaboration of Johann Berens, Elmar Müller, Randolph Vollmer: Crisis of the performance society? Empirical analyzes of engagement in work, family and politics. West German publisher: Opladen 1988. ISBN 3-531-11887-0 .
  14. ^ David Brooks: The Power Elite . In: The New York Times , February 18, 2010.
  15. ↑ Milan Zafirovski: Is Economic Distribution Independent of Stratification? Theoretical and Empirical Considerations. Theory & Science (2007). ISSN  1527-5558
  16. ↑ Cf. on this: Erhard Eppler : A solidarity performance society , 2011, p. 77: “Achievement can lead to economic success - or not. In our society, millions of women and men achieve a great deal, with and without economic success, often without paying. And a lot is earned, with and without performance, sometimes even at the expense of the common good. "