Merit-based exclusion in Finnish music schools

2019

In this article I analyse merit-based exclusion in Finnish music schools for children and young people. I base my study on my earlier research on meritocracy and written data collected online from current and former music school students in the autumn and winter of 2015–2016. I am able to show there are implicit and explicit merit-based hierarchies in the music school. Hierarchies and exclusion are shown to be connected to the institution’s meritocratic features. As the hierarchies are merit-based, it is hard to question them. The hierarchies justify excluding students from certain practices such as performances. These practices are in fact learning opportunities, as has been established by…

Hindrances to recognition in Finnish music schools

2021

This article examines recognition relations between students and teachers in Finnish music schools. The research is based on written texts by music school students. The texts are analysed for difficulties in recognition relations, namely, hindrances to recognition in music schools. In the texts, some of the respondents describe situations that can be analysed as hindrances to recognition. The author analyses four different types of recognition-related problems in the data, the main issue being a tension between caring for people (respecting them) and promoting musical values (emphasising esteem). In addition to discerning problems, the article attempts to alleviate this tension. This might…

Huomioita ansaitsemisen ideologiasta

2015

08. Recognition and the ideology of merit

2015

This paper discusses pathological forms that the ideal of merit takes in ideological uses of meritocratic ideas. According to the French philosopher Dominique Girardot (2011) the possibility of our genuinely recognizing one another is impaired by the ideology of merit: this new ideology standardizes recognition and forces competition, thus creating hierarchies and what Axel Honneth calls social pathologies. The ideology also threatens the category of action in Hannah Arendt’s (1958) sense. The paper elucidates Girardot’s stance and sketches a comparison between Honneth’s and Girardot’s views on recognition. Despite the explicit connection to Honneth’s theory, Girardot actually creates an Ar…

Merit, Competition, Distinction

2018

The article presents a critique of competition by introducing a concept called 'distinction'. Competition is thought to work as a guarantee of the fairness of meritocratic procedures (merit-based recruiting in the job market or e.g. entrance examinations). However, fairness created by competition is, even at its best, only relative. This critique is then used a part of a larger critique of the role of merit in society.

Recognition and the Ideology of Merit

2015

Liberaali välttämättömyys ja paljaan elämän politiikka

2010

Naisvalitus ja epätasa-arvo heteroparisuhteissa

2018

Saavutettavuus ja esteettömyys taiteen perusopetuksen lähtökohtana

2018

Ryhmän pimeä puoli : miten elää ryhmän arvaamattomuuden kanssa?

2017

Näkymätön puoli ryhmien elämässä jää usein vähemmälle huomiolle kuin näkyvä ja ulkoisesti mitattavissa oleva todellisuus. On kuitenkin mahdollista tarkastella myös ihmisten yhdessäolon ”pimeää” puolta, maailmaa jota emme useinkaan osaa sanoittaa, mutta jonka saatamme siitä huolimatta tuntea nahoissamme. Yritys ymmärtää heikosti tiedostettua toimintaa on sukellus maailmaan, jonka olemassaolon voi tuntea, mutta joka on siitä huolimatta vieras. Se vaatii ymmärryksen herkistymistä asioille, jotka tapahtuvat ilman että niitä tietoisesti suunnitellaan. nonPeerReviewed

Meritokratia meriitteihin perustuvana ulossulkemisena

2020

Meritokratia on järjestelmä, jossa jotkut ihmiset suljetaan ulos, koska he eivät ole tarpeeksi hyviä. Termi kehitettiin kuvaukseksi dystopiasta, synkäksi kuvaukseksi tulevaisuudesta. Siitä tuli kuitenkin nopeasti ihanneyhteiskunnan malli. nonPeerReviewed