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Practical Session 7
Source: the Economist. An hereditary meritocracy
Students are to reed and discuss two papers that offer a debate about meritocracy in Britain.
Such definitions as meritocracy, absolute mobility, and relative mobility will be discussed during this session. Students are expected to express their opinions about the significance of change in the structure of occupational system, the validity of odds ratios in class studies, and the role of talent and effort in shaping attainments.
 
1. Saunders, P. 1996 “Might Britain be a Meritocracy?” Sociology, 29(1): 23-41.
2. Breen, R. and Goldthorpe, J.H. 1999. “Class Inequality and Meritocracy: A Critique of Saunders and an Alternative Analysis”. British Journal of Sociology, 50:1-27.
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