La Tiranía del Merito / The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?

Las sociedades occidentales padecen dos males relacionados, la desigualdad econ mica y la polarizaci n pol tica. En el marasmo resultante, parece que hemos perdido de vista la noci n clave del bien com n. En esta obra fundamental, Michael J. Sandel se plantea c mo recuperarla.

Cuando solo hay ganadores y perdedores y la movilidad social se ha atascado, resulta inevitable la combinaci n de ira y frustraci n que alimenta la polarizaci n y la protesta populista, adem s de reducir la confianza en las instituciones y en nuestros conciudadanos. As no podemos hacer frente moralmente a los retos actuales.

Sandel, premio princesa de Asturias de Ciencias Sociales y uno de los fil sofos m s prestigiosos de nuestra poca, sostiene que para superar las crisis que asedian nuestras sociedades hemos de repensar las ideas de xito y fracaso que han acompa ado la globalizaci n y el aumento de la desigualdad. La meritocracia genera una complacencia nociva entre los ganadores e impone una sentencia muy dura sobre los perdedores. Sandel defiende otra manera de pensar el xito, m s atenta al papel de la suerte, m s acorde con una tica de la humildad y la solidaridad y m s reivindicativa de la dignidad del trabajo. Con esos mimbres morales, La tiran a del m rito presenta una visi n esperanzadora de una nueva pol tica centrada por fin en el bien com n.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

The world-renowned philosopher and author of the bestselling Justice explores the central question of our time: What has become of the common good?

These are dangerous times for democracy. We live in an age of winners and losers, where the odds are stacked in favor of the already fortunate. Stalled social mobility and entrenched inequality give the lie to the American credo that "you can make it if you try". The consequence is a brew of anger and frustration that has fueled populist protest and extreme polarization, and led to deep distrust of both government and our fellow citizens--leaving us morally unprepared to face the profound challenges of our time.

World-renowned philosopher Michael J. Sandel argues that to overcome the crises that are upending our world, we must rethink the attitudes toward success and failure that have accompanied globalization and rising inequality. Sandel shows the hubris a meritocracy generates among the winners and the harsh judgement it imposes on those left behind, and traces the dire consequences across a wide swath of American life. He offers an alternative way of thinking about success--more attentive to the role of luck in human affairs, more conducive to an ethic of humility and solidarity, and more affirming of the dignity of work. The Tyranny of Merit points us toward a hopeful vision of a new politics of the common good.