Jahel Queralt on the Costs of Moralizing Success and Failure

Critics of meritocracy often emphasize the ways merit-based thinking can justify grossly unequal outcomes, such as wide gaps in pay between rank-and-file workers and CEOs. Indeed, to some meritocratic thinkers, a sought-after executive receiving an eight-figure salary is simply a skilled worker getting their just deserts. But our guest today advocates for a different conception of meritocracy, one that treats merit as a principle for structuring opportunities and institutions, rather than as a moral defense of unequal outcomes.

Jahel Queralt is a professor of law at Pompeu Fabra University. A leading political theorist, she has written extensively about meritocracy, liberal egalitarianism, and more. In this conversation with host Steven Durlauf, she discusses her vision of a just meritocracy, the importance of political liberties, and the economic rights of the global poor.