Establishing educational meritocracy as the leading rationality of modern education in the neo-liberal oriented societies

V clanku analiziramo vzpostavljanje meritokracije kot racionalnosti, ki je prevrednotila in predrugacila nacin razmisljanja ter zivljenja pripadnikov in pripadnic zahodnih druzb s konca 19. stoletja, pomembno dolocala nacin zivljenja v 20. stoletju in ga bistveno doloca tudi v 21. stoletju. Z uveljavitvijo meritokracije je na veljavi pridobil nov kriterij socialne promocije, ki posamezniku in posameznici omogoca napredovanje po druzbeni lestvici ter pri tem kot kriterij uporabi njegovo/njeno pamet in trud. V pricujocem orisu povojne zgodovine vzpostavljanja pojma tematiziramo nekatere dejavnike, ki so v najvecji meri pripomogli k njegovemu uveljavljanju in obstoju. V nadaljevanju strukturne spremembe zahodnega sveta povezemo s spremembami sistema edukacije, ki se dogajajo zaradi soodvisnosti in ki omogocajo razumeti oblikovanje elementov moderne sole, ki postaja - receno strnjeno - poglavitni dispozitiv meritokracije. Zapisano prikazujemo in dokazujemo s tematizacijo pojavov od javnega prek mnozicnega do univerzalnega solstva. V sklepnem delu se podrobneje ukvarjamo z vprasanji ambivalentnosti, instrumentalnosti meritokracije in njenimi mejami.//In the present article, we analyse the reinstatement of meritocracy as that type of rationality that revaluated and transformed the way of thinking and the lives of the members of Western societies from the end of the 19th century; it strongly defined the way of life throughout the 20th century and it seems it still does in the 21st century. Established meritocracy introduced a new criterion of social promotion, one which allows the individual to advance on the social ladder using their intellect and effort as a criterion. Regarding this point, we briefly review the history of western societies after WWII and analyse the factors, which importantly contributed to its establishment and existence. We continue with the linking of the structural changes of the western world with the changes in the system of education, which take place because of interdependence and allow us to understand the formation of the elements of the modern school, which is becoming - concisely put - the main dispositive of meritocracy. The above said is demonstrated and hopefully proven with the thematisation of phenomena ranging from public education to mass and universal schooling. In conclusion we discuss the questions of inner tensions in the instrumentalised meritocracy and the limits of meritocracy as type of rationality. Reprinted by perm