Global meritocracy, nationalism and the question of whom we must treat equally for educational opportunity to be equal

Abstract

No one publicly defends unequal educational opportunity, Christopher Jencks claimed in a well-known article two decades ago. But is this actually true? With the rise of a ‘global war for talent’ and the push by business and political elites for a ‘global meritocracy’, the terrain on which educators work is shifting radically. This article argues that those committed to a politics of equality, justice and inclusion need to resist the urge to hang onto and defend past, nationalist ways of doing public education in the face of the contemporary neoliberal onslaught. Instead, we need to revisit old educational discourses, ideologies and principles – such as the principle of equal educational opportunity – in ways that are critical not just of new and future forms of (neoliberal) globalism but of past and continuing nationalisms as well.

Keywords:

• educational nationalism
• equality of opportunity in education
• global meritocracy
• methodological nationalism