What do you think?
Rate this book
Penguin Books and political change: Britain's meritocratic moment, 1937–1988
Founded in 1935 by a young publisher disillusioned with the class prejudices of the interwar publishing trade, Penguin Books set out to make good books available to all. The ‘Penguin Specials’, a series of current affairs books authored by leading intellectuals and politicians, embodied its democratising mission. Published over fifty years and often selling in vast quantities, these inexpensive paperbacks helped to shape popular ideas about subjects as varied as the welfare state, homelessness, social class and environmental decay.
Using the ‘Specials’ as a lens through which to view Britain’s changing political landscape, Dean Blackburn tells a story about the ideas that shaped post-war Britain. Between the late-1930s and the mid-1980s, Blackburn argues, Britain witnessed the emergence and eclipse of a ‘meritocratic moment’, at the core of which was the belief that a strong relationship between merit and reward would bring about social stability and economic efficiency. Equal opportunity and professional expertise, values embodied by the egalitarian aspirations of Penguin’s publishing ethos, would be the drivers of social and economic progress. But as the social and economic crises of the 1970s took root, many contemporary thinkers and politicians cast doubt on the assumptions that informed meritocratic logic. Britain’s meritocratic moment had passed.
Using the ‘Specials’ as a lens through which to view Britain’s changing political landscape, Dean Blackburn tells a story about the ideas that shaped post-war Britain. Between the late-1930s and the mid-1980s, Blackburn argues, Britain witnessed the emergence and eclipse of a ‘meritocratic moment’, at the core of which was the belief that a strong relationship between merit and reward would bring about social stability and economic efficiency. Equal opportunity and professional expertise, values embodied by the egalitarian aspirations of Penguin’s publishing ethos, would be the drivers of social and economic progress. But as the social and economic crises of the 1970s took root, many contemporary thinkers and politicians cast doubt on the assumptions that informed meritocratic logic. Britain’s meritocratic moment had passed.
296 pages, Hardcover
Published November 12, 2020
8 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 7, 2022
The emphasis placed on the link between penguins and political change at the start is very strong and undermines the book’s authority. There is an element of dual causality, whereby penguins impact societal changes and vice versa, but this is likely to be less significant than other trends/events.
The econ in the book is weak - the discipline’s shift back towards classical econ is neglected and there are a few inaccuracies (e.g. Blair was not a monetarist).
However, the sections describing key individuals’ outlook on meritocracy in Britain in the post-war period are succinct and lucid.
The econ in the book is weak - the discipline’s shift back towards classical econ is neglected and there are a few inaccuracies (e.g. Blair was not a monetarist).
However, the sections describing key individuals’ outlook on meritocracy in Britain in the post-war period are succinct and lucid.
Displaying 1 of 1 review