How do social agents perpetuate harmful social structures? This study explores the persistence of meritocratic competition, which endures despite decades of educational reform. Drawing on videoethnography conducted by the author as a student-participant, it examines the transition of students from a Taiwanese alternative school into the mainstream education system. While prior studies attribute meritocratic competition to economic and cultural factors—mitigated in this case—this study observed that students themselves voluntarily engage in and perpetuate such competition. This behavior stems from a dependence on the allocation of (educational) resources, conceptualized as "Allocation Dependence."
Allocation Dependence arises from motivations like risk aversion, compelling agents to conform to allocation criteria and processes ("assimilation") while discarding non-conforming qualities ("trimming"). These behaviors, instrumentalized as means for resource acquisition, suppress intrinsic values, hinder holistic development, and resemble the fetishization of money as an end in itself.
The persistence of Allocation Dependence across national and temporal boundaries in education, alongside its context-agnostic nature, suggests its broader relevance to other social structures. By introducing this concept, the research offers a transdisciplinary framework for understanding and addressing self-perpetuating systemic social problems, opening pathways for future inquiry and intervention.
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