Abstract
The aim of this article is to explore two of the basic attributes of modernity – equality and meritocracy – in a cross-cultural perspective. Based on empirical research in the USA, Brazil and Japan this article explores the cultural content of those categories and their links with the different ways these societies build their notion of the individual – as proposed by Dumont (1992). This article presents a new contribution to the discussion on modernity, in the sense that it extends this discussion to other societies where these values were not first articulated but to where they have spread and where they have found some room for themselves.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
