Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington
Michael Dunlop Young, Baron Young of Dartington ( born August 9, 1915 in Manchester, † 14 January 2002) was an influential British sociologist and politician. Young coined the term meritocracy.
Young was born as the son of an Australian musician and an Irish painter and actress. He attended Dartington Hall School and studied at the London University. He designed the election manifesto of the British Labour Party in 1945 and was significantly involved in their electoral success, but left in 1950 the policy in order to devote himself to other social science studies. As a pioneer in the UK applies his study ( with Peter Wilmott ): " Family and Kinship in East London " ( frequently cited as short Fakinel ). Young is considered the inventor of the word meritocracy ( in satirical intent). He campaigned for the rights of consumers, and was co-founder of the Open University. He was married three times. In 1978 he was appointed Life peer and member of the British House of Lords. His son Toby Young is a well-known British journalist.
Early life
Young was born in Manchester, the son of an Australian violinist and music critic and an Irish painter and actress. Up to the age of eight, he lived in Melbourne and return shortly after the divorce of his parents returned to England. He attended several schools, including Dartington Hall, a newly established progressive school in Devon. Young supported the school as trustee, vice-chairman and historian. He studied economics at the London School of Economics and in 1939 was admitted to the bar.
Political career and sociological activity
Young was from 1945 for the Labour Party tätig.1952 he began doctoral studies at the London School of Economics. His studies of housing and local government in East London led him to be critical of the activities of local Labour politician. In response, Young founded the Institute of Community Studies.
With Peter Willmot he authored the study Family and Kinship in East London. 1958 published Young satire The Rise of Meritocracy, which was originally to be published by the Fabian Society, they rejected the publication, however, from. The text was received comprehensive in Labour's internal debate on equal opportunities and coined the term meritocracy. Young wrote the term negative connotations and distanced himself from the subsequent positive use by New Labour.1957 Young was involved in the founding of the Consumers Association and was involved in the National Consumer Council, the Open University and the Open College of the Arts. He founded Language Line, a telephone translation service, which should facilitate non-English speaking persons access to public services. He promoted various research projects and was involved in 1997 in the founding of the School for Social Entrepreneurs. His activities were bundled and continued in the Young Foundation.
1978 Young was as Baron Young of Dartington, to Dartington in Devon (England), was appointed. 1980 Young of the Social Democratic Party joined (United Kingdom), but returned in 1989 back to the Labour Party.
From 1961 to 1966 he was fellow of Churchill College from 1989 to 1992, he held the position of President of Birkbeck College, University of London.
Private
Young was married three times. In 1945 he married Joan Lawton, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. After the divorce, he married Sasha Moorsom 1960, with whom he had a son and a daughter. Moorsom and Young worked on several projects, including in South African townships, together. After Moorsoms death in 1993 he married in 1995 Dorit Uhlemann, with whom he had a daughter. Toby Young, his son with Moorsom, has been working as a journalist and author. Toby Young was known as the author of the book How to lose Friends and Alienate People. "
Works (selection)
- The Rise Of The Meritocracy 1870-2033. An essay on education and equality. Thames and Hudson, London, 1958 ( German: .. Vive la difference on the road to meritocracy Econ, Dusseldorf in 1961, and more )
- Family and Kinship in East London. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1957.