Meritocracy and inequality: moral considerations

Abstract

This study investigates where religion stands in relation to economic life, characterised by meritocracy. To this end, first, the deeper logic of economic merit-retribution—which captures humans, as an ideology of everyday life—will be explicated through a cursory review of the metaphysical and religious grounding of economic life. Here, the paper discusses both the religious legitimation and critique of meritocracy by generating theological resources from the books of Job and Qohelet. The paper then draws on the historical archives and cultural memories of Ethiopians to illustrate how and why religion should be considered important for a deeper understanding of inequality and poverty. Of particular interest in this context are the oral poetic expressions of ordinary people suffering the consequences of drought and famine in Ethiopia. Such voices—usually passed unheard by authorities, whether governmental or non-governmental agents—are not only illustrative of the way the logic of merit/retribution is implicated in metaphysical and religious worldviews in Ethiopia (the metaphysics of fate/idil), but also demonstrate a challenge to the religious, socio-economic, and political status quo. Finally, the paper suggests a number of moral considerations on meritocracy vis-à-vis inequality and poverty, which will contribute towards correcting flawed conceptions of economic poverty and development.