A fairer recognition is required and seems to be unanimous in public opinion. Let us remember that it rightly seemed dishonorable to us that so-called front-line functions were so little recognized in view of their necessity during Covid. Inclusion, diversity and parity policies have almost never been as popular in organizations as today and are all strategies put in place for greater recognition of differences. And if we are to believe the current HR barometers (CCLD, myRHline 2023, etc.), the lack of recognition at work appears to be one of the primary reasons pushing employees to want to change positions, if not companies. This chronic lack of recognition and the ever-greater need for consideration that accompanies it are not necessarily linked to managerial or political negligence, but more fundamentally stem from a democratic and demagogic drift against which it becomes difficult but necessary to fight.
Demagogic in that right-thinking egalitarianism is intensifying, hierarchies are fading, authority is collapsing, levels no longer count, transmission is replaced by sharing of experiences, truth by relativism ( to each his own truth), and critical analysis through summary opinions. Science sees itself in competition with an archaic return to more or less shamanic practices. Online training is put on the same level as academic training. The certified titles are equivalent for some to state academic diplomas. The so-called front-line professions, essential to the survival of the population, are sometimes less valued than the improbable “happyculturists”, “emerging collective intelligence”, “resilience developers”, and other “supporters” in all and especially in nothing that you find in abundance on professional social networks. We are therefore witnessing the emergence of a host of puppets who are as light in knowledge as they are heavy in demagogic nonsense (1). How could we let this kind of deception corrupt the job market while ignoring the value of the most deserving?
By democratic drift. The circumvention that Tocqueville (2) predicted between equality and egalitarianism is occurring before our eyes. The democratic principle of equality is insidiously replaced by the demagogic principle of equivalence. Equality of rights (all equal before the law) is slyly distorted into equivalence of values (everything is equal). In this logic, equivalence ends up reigning and undifferentiation dominates. But undifferentiation leads to indifference and indifference is the opposite of recognition! To recognize is to distinguish, differentiate, value, and establish hierarchies based on merit. In the act of recognizing, awareness of one’s real value in relation to others is added to the known reality. So how can we value it if relativism (everything is equal) reigns supreme? How can we distinguish whether equivalence dominates? How can we establish differences if non-differentiation becomes the watchword? Egalitarianism, the reign of undifferentiation and equivalence, is calamitous in that it prevents any form of recognition.
We must therefore, as article 1 of The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen suggests surreptitiously, maintaining a clear separation between undifferentiation before the law and social undifferentiation: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions can only be based on common utility.” In other words, equality does not prohibit disparities and distinctions are not necessarily injustices! Also, for true recognition and attenuated social resentment, we would still have to dare differences, compete contributions, prioritize merits. Recognition presupposes not egalitarian demagoguery but the courage of distinction.
(1) (im)personal development. The success of an imposture, by Julia de Funès, ed. by L’Observatoire, 2019, Paris.
(2) Of democracy in America, by Tocqueville, 1835.