Coloniality and Meritocracy in Unequal EU Migrations Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Coloniality of Meritocracy: From the Anglosphere to Post-Austerity Europe
- 2 Imagining Meritocracy in Unequal Positions
- 3 (Re)Imagining Meritocracy in Unequal Migrations
- 4 The Coloniality of Belonging
- 5 The Coloniality of Brexit
- Conclusion
- Appendix A Interviewing: From Theory to Practice
- Appendix B Sample Composition
- Appendix C Summary of Participants
- Appendix D Interview Topics and Questions
- References
- Index
1 - The Coloniality of Meritocracy: From the Anglosphere to Post-Austerity Europe
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2024
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Coloniality of Meritocracy: From the Anglosphere to Post-Austerity Europe
- 2 Imagining Meritocracy in Unequal Positions
- 3 (Re)Imagining Meritocracy in Unequal Migrations
- 4 The Coloniality of Belonging
- 5 The Coloniality of Brexit
- Conclusion
- Appendix A Interviewing: From Theory to Practice
- Appendix B Sample Composition
- Appendix C Summary of Participants
- Appendix D Interview Topics and Questions
- References
- Index
Summary
Mario: [Italy] is not a country that offers opportunities, it's not a country in which I recognize myself, because I think there are many people [pause] we all know it, because everyone talks about it, there are many people who are not rewarded because of meritocracy, but for other reasons, endless corruption, if you get rewarded it is because you know someone, you find a job and you don't even know if they’ll pay you. It's an economic crisis, yes, it's a crisis of people really, we’re fuckers, idiots, we’re unable to take our lives in our hands, we let ourselves get carried away by politicians and things like that … so our economic problems depend on our attitude.
Author: You mean in the sense of not following the rules?
Mario: In the sense of not following the rules, [taking] shortcuts, Nordic countries are more precise because there is no sun, is it bullshit? No, it's true, there's no sun, so it's less tempting to lay down on a field, go to the beach, make a coffee and relax, it's a shitty day, you feel bad, you go to work, I think it's a big influence, the sun, indeed Southern countries are the ones in crisis.
As Mario explains in this excerpt, “we all know” that Italy has a problem of “meritocracy”, because “everyone talks about it”. Like Eric in the Introduction, Mario assumes that I, being Italian, am already familiar with this issue. He evokes Italy's lack of meritocracy as part of a national common sense or, as I discuss later, a shared doxa (Bourdieu, 1972) based on assumptions about the differences between ‘Nordic’ and ‘Southern’ cultures. His culturalist understanding of meritocracy is central to what I call the coloniality of meritocracy in this chapter.
Mario's mapping of meritocracy onto ethno-national European differences is significant also for other reasons. He connects the 2008 economic crisis to a “crisis of people”, presenting national culture (Italians’ allegedly more “relaxed” work ethics) as an explanation for contemporary European inequalities. He also invokes historical tropes that precede the 2008 crisis. During the interview, he mentioned organized crime (“mafia”) as emblematic of the nation's corruption.
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- Information
- Coloniality and Meritocracy in Unequal EU MigrationsIntersecting Inequalities in Post-2008 Italian Migration, pp. 16 - 39Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2023