HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Michael Dunlop Young, Baron Young of Dartington (9 August 1915 – 14 January 2002), was a British sociologist, social activist and politician who coined the term "
meritocracy Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people based on talent, effort, and achiev ...
". He was an urbanist of different dimensions such as academic researcher, polemicist and institution-builder. During an active life he was instrumental in shaping Labour Party thinking. When secretary of the policy committee of the Labour Party, he was responsible for drafting "Let Us Face the Future", Labour's manifesto for the 1945 general election, was a leading protagonist on social reform, and founded or helped found a number of socially useful organisations. These include the Consumers' Association, ''
Which? ''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights and offering independ ...
'' magazine, the
National Consumer Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
, the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...
, the Institute for Community Studies, the
National Extension College The National Extension College (NEC) was set up in 1963 as a not-for-profit organisation for distance learning for people of all ages. It was founded as a pilot study for the Open University. The College provides over 60 online distance lear ...
, the
Open College of the Arts The Open College of the Arts (OCA) is an open learning arts college, with a Head Office in Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1987 by Michael Young, it is a registered charity and the distance learning partner of the University ...
and
Language Line Telephone interpreting connects human interpreters via telephone to individuals who wish to speak to each other but do not share a common language. The telephone interpreter converts the spoken language from one language to another, enabling li ...
, a telephone-interpreting business.


Early life and education

Young was born in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
, the son of (Ernest) Gibson Young, an Australian violinist and music critic; and an Irish
Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
painter and actress, Edith Hermia Dunlop. According to Michael's son, Toby Young, Gibson was a "ne'er-do-well", and "the only silver his forebears possessed was what they were able to steal from the gentry". Until he was eight, Young grew up in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...
, returning to England shortly before his parents' marriage broke up. He attended several schools, eventually entering
Dartington Hall Dartington Hall in Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, England, is an historic house and country estate of dating from medieval times. The group of late 14th century buildings are Grade I listed; described in Pevsner's Buildings of England as "on ...
, a new progressive school in Devon, in the 1920s. He had a long association with the small school, as student, trustee, deputy chairman and historian. He studied economics at the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...
(BScEcon, MA), then became a
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...
when he applied to be
called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
in 1939.


Political career and thought

During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, Young served as director of the
Political and Economic Planning Political and Economic Planning (PEP) was a British policy think tank, formed in 1931 in response to Max Nicholson's article ''A National Plan for Britain'' published in February of that year in Gerald Barry's magazine ''The Week-End Review''. H ...
think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...
and became director of research for the Labour Party where he wrote the manifesto for the 1945 general election and the vast speakers' handbook. He served under the Labour Party government led by
Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...
, but left in 1950 saying the party had run out of ideas. He called for the establishment of a
Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is a US-based, independent, international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines. Established in Manhattan in 1923, it today maintains ...
and became its first director 17 years later. He began studying for a PhD at the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...
in 1952. His thesis, dated 1955, was title
A study of the extended family in East London
His studies of housing and local government policy in East London left him disillusioned with the state of community relations and local Labour councillors. This prompted him to found the
Institute of Community Studies Early years The Institute for Community Studies is a community-led research and evidence centre based in Bethnal Green, East London. Originally founded in 1953 by Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington, Michael Young as the Institute ''of'' C ...
, which was his principal vehicle for exploring his ideas of social reform. Its basic tenet was to give people more say in running their lives and institutions. Butler argues that it drew upon existing bodies of research in social psychology and sociology to highlight the relevance of the extended family in modern society and to offer a model of socialist citizenship, solidarity and mutual support not tied to productive work. Young promoted the supportive kinship networks of the urban working class, and an idealized conception of the relationships between women, to suggest that family had been overlooked by the left and should be reclaimed as a progressive force. The goal was to strengthen the working-class family as set it up as a model for cooperative socialism. He also founded the Mutual Aid Centre at this time. Young co-authored with Peter Willmott ''
Family and Kinship in East London ''Family and Kinship in East London'' was a 1957 sociological study of an urban working class tight-knit community, and the effects of the post-war governments' social housing policy leading to their rehousing. Many East Londoners by rigid slum ...
'', documenting and analysing the social costs of rehousing a tight-knit community in a suburban housing estate (known affectionately by sociologists as ''Fakinel'' and invariably pronounced with a
cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...
accent).In
Cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...
fa.kɪ.neəl sounds like an expletive
In 1958, Young also wrote the influential satire ''
The Rise of the Meritocracy ''The Rise of the Meritocracy'' is a book by British sociologist and politician Michael Dunlop Young which was first published in 1958. It describes a dystopian society in a future United Kingdom in which intelligence and merit have become the ...
'', originally for the
Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...
, which refused to publish it. In it he coined the word "
meritocracy Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people based on talent, effort, and achiev ...
", to which he gave negative connotations, and he became disappointed with how the concept came to be seen as an achievable concept worth pursuing. Young's social research also contributed to the change in secondary education that led to widespread abolition of grammar schools and their replacement by comprehensive schools between 1965 and 1976, as well as the abolition of the 11-plus. In the 1950s and 1960s Young helped to found the Consumers' Association and the National Consumer Council claiming that "politics will become less and less the politics of production, and more and more the politics of consumption", presenting the ideas in a book ''The Chipped White Cups Of Dover''. In 1960 he started the Advisory Centre for Education the National Extension College and, with Peter Laslett, a dawn university on
Anglia Television ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...
, which became prototypes of the Open University which
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
launched in 1964, building on his vision. In the mid-1980s, Young co-founded International Alert, together with Leo Kuper and Martin Ennals. In 1987 he founded the Open College of the Arts, confounding critics who maintained that the arts could not be taught by distance methods. He also founded
Language Line Telephone interpreting connects human interpreters via telephone to individuals who wish to speak to each other but do not share a common language. The telephone interpreter converts the spoken language from one language to another, enabling li ...
, a telephone interpreting business, to enable non-English-speaking people to have equal access to public services. He fostered the work of many younger researchers and "social entrepreneurs", and founded the School for Social Entrepreneurs in 1997. Aspects of Young's work are being developed by the
Young Foundation The Young Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental think tank based in London that specialises in social innovation to tackle structural inequality. It is named after Michael Young, the British sociologist and social activist who created ...
, created from the merger of his Institute of Community Studies and his Mutual Aid Centre, under the direction of Geoff Mulgan. Throughout his life, and particularly in later life, Young was concerned for older people. In 1982 he co-founded the University of the Third Age with Peter Laslett and Eric Midwinter, and Linkage, bringing together older people without grandchildren and young people without grandparents. In 2001 he co-founded the charity Grandparents Plus to champion the role of the wider family in children's lives. According to his friend Eric Midwinter, "All his thought, all his incisive writing, all his brilliantly conceived schemes, all his astutely handled initiatives were guided by a salient method. He was a utopian socialist. His thinking stemmed from the views of 19th century radicals like
Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh people, Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditio ...
, Saint-Simon or
Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (;; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical ...
, with their hatred of massive institutionalism, be it in the hands of the public authority or of the large commercial company." Young was a fellow of
Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establis ...
, from 1961 to 1966, and president of
Birkbeck, University of London , mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck. , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £4.3 m (2014) , budget = £10 ...
, from 1989 to 1992. Although an
egalitarian Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...
, Young accepted a
life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages A ...
on 20 March 1978, taking the title Baron Young of Dartington, ''of
Dartington Dartington is a village in Devon, England. Its population is 876. The electoral ward of ''Dartington'' includes the surrounding area and had a population of 1,753 at the 2011 census. It is located west of the River Dart, south of Dartington ...
in the County of Devon''. His many projects required frequent travel to London and the peerage offered free rail travel and attendance allowance at a time when he had run out of money.


Personal life

Young married three times. In 1945 he married Joan Lawton, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. They divorced and in December 1961 he married Sasha (d. 1993; daughter of Raisley Stewart Moorsom and a descendant of Admiral Sir Robert Moorsom), a novelist, sculptor and painter with whom he had a daughter (who was born before their marriage) and a son, the journalist and writer Toby Young. Young and Moorsom worked together on several projects, including in the
township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...
s of South Africa. Moorsom died in 1993 and in 1995 Young married 37-year-old milliner Dorit Uhlemann, with whom he had a daughter Gaia, who died in July 2021 aged 25.


Bibliography

*''Will the War Make Us Poorer?'' ith Sir Henry Noel Young(1943) *''Civil Aviation'' (1944) *''The Trial of Adolf Hitler'' (1944) *''There's Work for All'' ith_ ith_Theodor_Prager">Theodor_Prager.html"_;"title="ith_Theodor_Prager">ith_Theodor_Prager(1945) *''Labour's_Plan_for_Plenty''__(1947) *''What_is_a_Socialised_Industry?''__(1947) *''Small_Man,_Big_World:_A_Discussion_of_Socialist_Democracy''__(1949) *''Fifty_Million_Unemployed''__(1952) *''Study_of_the_Extended_Family_in_East_London''_(1955) *''Family_and_Kinship_in_East_London_ ''Family_and_Kinship_in_East_London''_was_a_1957_sociological_study_of_an_urban__working_class_tight-knit_community,_and_the_effects_of_the_post-war_governments'_social_housing_policy_leading_to_their_rehousing.__Many_East_Londoners_by_rigid_slum__...
''_[with_Peter_Willmott_(sociologist).html" ;"title="Theodor_Prager.html" ;"title="Theodor_Prager.html" ;"title="ith Theodor Prager">ith Theodor Prager">Theodor_Prager.html" ;"title="ith Theodor Prager">ith Theodor Prager(1945) *''Labour's Plan for Plenty'' (1947) *''What is a Socialised Industry?'' (1947) *''Small Man, Big World: A Discussion of Socialist Democracy'' (1949) *''Fifty Million Unemployed'' (1952) *''Study of the Extended Family in East London'' (1955) *''
Family and Kinship in East London ''Family and Kinship in East London'' was a 1957 sociological study of an urban working class tight-knit community, and the effects of the post-war governments' social housing policy leading to their rehousing. Many East Londoners by rigid slum ...
'' [with Peter Willmott (sociologist)">Peter Willmott] (1957) *''
The Rise of the Meritocracy ''The Rise of the Meritocracy'' is a book by British sociologist and politician Michael Dunlop Young which was first published in 1958. It describes a dystopian society in a future United Kingdom in which intelligence and merit have become the ...
'' (1958) *''Chipped White Cups of Dover: A Discussion of the Possibility of a New Progressive Party'' (1960) *''Family and Class in a London Suburb'' ith Peter Willmott(1960) *''New Look at Comprehensive Schools'' ith Michael Armstrong(1964) *''Innovation and Research in Education'' (1967) *''Forecasting and the Social Sciences'' d.(1968) *''Hornsey Plan: A Role for Neighbourhood Councils in the New Local Government'' (1971) *''Is Equality a Dream?'' (1972) *''Lifeline Telephone Service for the Elderly: An Account of a Pilot Project in Hull'' ith_Peter_G._Gregory.html" ;"title="Peter_G._Gregory.html" ;"title="ith Peter G. Gregory">ith Peter G. Gregory">Peter_G._Gregory.html" ;"title="ith Peter G. Gregory">ith Peter G. Gregory(1972) *''Learning Begins at Home: A Study of a Junior School and its Parents'' [with Patrick McGeeney] (1973) *''Symmetrical Family: A Study of Work and Leisure in the London Region'' ith Peter Willmott(1973) *''Mutual Aid in a Selfish Society: A Plea for Strengthening the Co-operative Movement'' ith_Marianne_Rigge.html" ;"title="Marianne_Rigge.html" ;"title="ith Marianne Rigge">ith Marianne Rigge">Marianne_Rigge.html" ;"title="ith Marianne Rigge">ith Marianne Rigge(1979) *''Building Societies and the Consumer: A Report'' ith Marianne Rigge(1981) *''Report from Hackney: A Study of an Inner-City Area'' [with others] (1981) *''The Elmhirsts of Dartington: The Creation of an Utopian Community'' (1982) *''Inflation, Unemployment and the Remoralisation of Society'' (1982) *''Up the Hill to Cowley Street: Views of Tawney Members on SDP Policy'' d._with_Tony_Flower_and_ d._with_Tony_Flower_and_Peter_Hall_(urbanist)">Peter_Hall.html" ;"title="Peter_Hall_(urbanist).html" ;"title="Tony_Flower.html" ;"title="d. with Tony Flower">d. with Tony Flower and Peter Hall (urbanist)">Peter Hall">Peter_Hall_(urbanist).html" ;"title="Tony_Flower.html" ;"title="d. with Tony Flower">d. with Tony Flower and Peter Hall (urbanist)">Peter Hall(1982) *''Revolution from Within: Cooperatives and Cooperation in British Industry'' ith Marianne Rigge(1983) *''Social Scientist as Innovator'' (1983) *''To Merge or Not to Merge?'' (1983) *''Development of New Growth Areas: Workers' Cooperatives and Their Environment: Comparative Analysis with a View to Job Creation: Support for Worker Cooperatives in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands'' ith Marianne Rigge(1985) *''Metronomic Society: Natural Rhythms and Human Timetables'' (1988) *''Rhythms of society'' d._with_Tom_Schuller.html" ;"title="Tom_Schuller.html" ;"title="d. with Tom Schuller">d. with Tom Schuller">Tom_Schuller.html" ;"title="d. with Tom Schuller">d. with Tom Schuller(1988) *''Campaign for Children's After-School Clubs: The Case for Action'' [with Matthew Owen] (1991) *''Life After Work: The Arrival of the Ageless Society'' [with Tom Schuller, Johnston Birchall and Gwyneth Vernon) (1991) *''Governing London'' [with Jerry White (author), Jerry White] (1996) *''The New East End: Kinship, Race and Conflict'' ith_Geoff_Dench_and_Kate_Gavron.html" ;"title="Geoff_Dench.html" ;"title="ith Geoff Dench">ith Geoff Dench and Kate Gavron">Geoff_Dench.html" ;"title="ith Geoff Dench">ith Geoff Dench and Kate Gavron] (2006)


List of institutions established with the involvement of Michael Young

*
Institute of Community Studies Early years The Institute for Community Studies is a community-led research and evidence centre based in Bethnal Green, East London. Originally founded in 1953 by Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington, Michael Young as the Institute ''of'' C ...
, 1954 (director 1954–2002, now part of the
Young Foundation The Young Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental think tank based in London that specialises in social innovation to tackle structural inequality. It is named after Michael Young, the British sociologist and social activist who created ...
) * Consumers' Association, 1957 (chairman 1957–65, president 1965–93) * Research Institute for Disabled Consumers, 1963 (chairman 1963) *South African Committee for Higher Education, 1959 (founding sponsor) * Botswana Extension College, 1959 * Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre, 1959 * Advisory Centre for Education, 1959 * Bethnal Green Exports Ltd., 1964–66 *
Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is a US-based, independent, international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines. Established in Manhattan in 1923, it today maintains ...
, 1965 (chairman 1965–68) * Thameside Research and Development Group, 1967–69 *
National Consumer Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
, 1975 (chairman 1975–77) *
National Extension College The National Extension College (NEC) was set up in 1963 as a not-for-profit organisation for distance learning for people of all ages. It was founded as a pilot study for the Open University. The College provides over 60 online distance lear ...
, 1962 (chairman 1962–71) *
Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...
, 1964 * National Innovations Centre, 1968–74 * Institute for Social Studies in Medical Care, 1970–94 * International Extension College, 1971–2006 * Social Audit, 1972 * Mutual Aid Centre, 1977 (now part of the Young Foundation) * Commuter Study Clubs, 1980 * International Alert, 1981 * University of the Third Age, 1982 * Tawney Society, 1982–88 * College of Health, 1983 * Association for the Social Study of Time, 1983 * Argo Venture, 1984–95 * Healthline, 1986 *
Open College of the Arts The Open College of the Arts (OCA) is an open learning arts college, with a Head Office in Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1987 by Michael Young, it is a registered charity and the distance learning partner of the University ...
, 1987 (chairman 1987–91) * Centre for Electoral Choice, 1987 * Centre for Educational Choice, 1988 * LinkAge, 1988–95 * Samizdat, 1988–90 * Open School, 1989 *
Language Line Telephone interpreting connects human interpreters via telephone to individuals who wish to speak to each other but do not share a common language. The telephone interpreter converts the spoken language from one language to another, enabling li ...
, 1990 * A Secondary Education Curriculum for Adults (ASECA), 1991 p35 * Adult Basic Education Programme (ABEP), 1991 * South African Institute of Distance Education (SAIDE), 1991 * Education Extra, 1992 * National Association for the Education of Sick Children, 1993 * Tower Hamlets Independent News Service (THINK), 1993–94 * National Funerals College, 1994 * Family Covenant Association, 1994 * The School for Social Entrepreneurs, 1997 * Phoenix Education Trust, 2001


Notes


References


Further reading

*


External links

* * * *
The Advisory Centre for Education (ACE)

The Young Foundation – History

The Young Foundation

The Papers of Michael Young
at th
Churchill Archives CentreThe Papers of Sasha Moorsom Young
at the Churchill Archives Centre
The School for Social Entrepreneurs

Phoenix Education Trust - About Us
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Michael 1915 births 2002 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Consumer rights activists Young of Dartington Alumni of the London School of Economics Members of the Fabian Society People associated with the Open University People associated with Birkbeck, University of London Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge British sociologists People educated at Dartington Hall School Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians Honorary Fellows of the British Academy Life peers created by Elizabeth II