Extended Summary

Introduction and Theoretical Framework
The discipline of sociology has traditionally focused on how knowledge is produced, distributed across social strata, and utilized to shape power relations. Stemming from the Enlightenment tradition, classical sociological frameworks often equate power with the monopolization of knowledge, treating ignorance merely as a passive void or an absence of education. This article, however, shifts the analytical lens to “agnotology” –the study of culturally produced ignorance– as conceptualized by Robert N. Proctor. The central premise of this study is that modern capitalist power structures sustain themselves not only by generating knowledge but also by actively and strategically manufacturing ignorance, doubt, and collective blindness.
In the contemporary neoliberal ecosystem, the primary ideological apparatus for this manufactured ignorance is the myth of meritocracy. The meritocratic narrative presents social hierarchies and economic disparities as the natural outcomes of individual talent and effort. In doing so, it functions as a comprehensive “agnotological mechanism” that systematically obscures the structural and class-based roots of wealth and poverty. Drawing upon Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron’s theories of cultural reproduction and symbolic violence, the study argues that meritocracy operates through “misrecognition.” It forces individuals to internalize systemic inequalities as personal failures, thus neutralizing potential resistance.
Methodology
Given the multi-dimensional nature of meritocracy and manufactured ignorance, this study adopts an interdisciplinary critical literature review methodology. It integrates theoretical perspectives from sociology, political philosophy, organizational behavior, and microeconomics (specifically game theory). To ground these theoretical claims in empirical reality, the study conducts a secondary data analysis utilizing contemporary macro-statistics, including the OECD’s PISA 2022 results, the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI) reports on CEO-worker pay gaps, and Oxfam’s global inequality indices. These data sources were strategically selected because they transparently reveal the socio-economic devastation caused by the neoliberal meritocratic narrative on an international scale, thus substantiating the theoretical framework and fulfilling the study’s aim of revealing class exploitation masked as individual failure.
Agnotology in Education and Elite Justification
The article dissects the agnotological function of meritocracy across multiple domains, heavily emphasizing the role of education. First, it examines how educational examination systems transform structural disadvantages into illusions of personal failure, ensuring that marginalized individuals blame their own perceived incompetence rather than systemic exploitation. Conversely, for the privileged classes, meritocracy serves as what sociologist Linsey McGoey terms an “ignorance alibi.” By attributing their inherited advantages and cultural capital solely to hard work and vision, elites are absolved of the moral guilt associated with structural inequality. This elite agnotology is further institutionalized through bureaucratic “anti-strategies,” where institutions purposefully maintain blind spots to protect the status quo under the guise of objective performance metrics.
The study also delves into the concept of “democratic inequality,” drawing on Shamus Rahman Khan’s work. It reveals how modern elite institutions use diversity and inclusion initiatives to mask the entrenchment of privilege, presenting a facade of equal opportunity that effectively hides massive wealth transfers. This “crony capitalism,” vividly observable in peripheral and semi-peripheral countries like Türkiye as well as in core capitalist societies, completely shatters the illusion of a level playing field. Meritocracy merely serves as a theoretical shield protecting massive wealth concentration.
Neoliberal Governmentality and Game Theory
Furthermore, the article ties meritocracy to Michel Foucault’s concept of neoliberal governmentality, wherein the individual is reconstructed as a “human capital” enterprise. By forcing individuals to view themselves as portfolios requiring continuous investment, neoliberalism frames systemic exclusion as a lack of personal investment or individual inadequacy. From a microeconomic perspective, the research incorporates the game theory models of Ina Taneva and Thomas Wiseman, demonstrating that “strategic ignorance” can be a rational survival tactic for individuals operating within highly competitive capitalist environments. However, the study shows that when all actors adopt this strategic ignorance to survive and remain included in the system, society becomes trapped in a sub-optimal, exploitative equilibrium where systemic issues remain perpetually unaddressed and collective blindness becomes the norm.
Conclusion and Policy Implications
Ultimately, this study demonstrates that the meritocratic narrative is not an objective metric of justice, but a camouflage strategy that individualizes poverty and obscures systemic exploitation. As Michael Young famously predicted, the meritocratic illusion strips marginalized individuals of their self-respect, leaving them with no psychological defense against the label of inadequacy. Additionally, relying on Ayşe Buğra’s social policy framework, the study highlights how the capitalist system shifts to a rhetoric of charity when the “blame-the-victim” narrative reaches its limits. This philanthropic approach acts as a final agnotological mechanism, framing poverty as a matter of philanthropy requiring moral sympathy rather than a political injustice demanding structural reform. The article concludes that overcoming this manufactured ignorance requires a definitive rejection of the meritocratic illusion. Instead of relying on charity or individualized performance narratives, inequality must be politicized and reconceptualized upon a rights-based foundation. To dismantle the agnotological apparatus, the study advocates for radical transparency, affirmative action policies that account for cultural capital, and the mobilization of universal social rights –such as basic income and unionization–to foster a collective class consciousness.