The Comparison of Civilizations

Abstract

The social anthropological/sociological oeuvre of Louis Dumont (1911-98) embraced continents: the contrast between the defining ideologies of traditional and modern societies was his central concern. Traditional society represented by India and modern society represented by the West were respectively considered by him to exemplify the principles of holism/hierarchy and individualism/equality. Further, what is `manifest' in one type of society is `latent' in the other. To study the two types of society and ideology in mutual relatedness rather than isolation, they must be compared. Comparison may begin at the local or regional level within a civilization, but it should be built up step by step to cover national variants of a civilization. The ultimate goal is to compare civilizations themselves within the framework of a common humanity. Dumont's studies of India and the West are of the greatest interest for their methodological sophistication as much (if not more) as for their substantive conclusions, which have been the subject of scholarly debate for nearly half a century.