Merit and Its Subversive New Roles

This chapter analyzes “merit” as one of the organizing concepts of the Bourbon program of reform. Merit was no longer understood as a condition or status resulting from someone’s ancestry and pure blood but rather as talent, skill, and good training. The text examines the many writings that propagated this idea in state-sponsored publications, the press, academies and salons, and in policies. It reflects on the contradictions the crown faced when promoting a meritocracy in places organized around differences of birth and race. Subversive interpretations arose from the expectations the application of this concept awoke and the frustration of its often weak implementation.