Opportunity
Access to possibility. The inequality in nature is exacerbated by design. Sold as meritocracy. (see also Meritocracy)
How We Say It
opΒ·ΙrΒ·tooΒ·niΒ·tee
Where It Comes From
Latin opportunitas β fitness, advantage. From opportunus β favorable, suitable. Originally a nautical term β ob portum veniens meant 'coming toward the port,' said of winds favorable for entering harbor. The word's metaphor of a moment of favorable conditions is built into its origin.
How It's Been Used
Central to liberal political philosophy and American civic mythology β equality of opportunity as the alternative to equality of outcome. Sociology distinguishes opportunity from access; opportunity from outcome. Pierre Bourdieu's work on cultural capital showed how unequal access to social, cultural, and economic resources reproduces inequality across generations even where formal opportunity is equal.