ABSTRACT
In his recent article “Why Compare?” R. Radhakrishnan (2009) sets out some of the ethical dilemmas for the discipline of comparative studies. Radhakrishnan starts with an anecdote of a seemingly innocuous encounter with a local Indian autorickshaw driver, disputing whether the rigor of an orderly lane system is superior to the disorderly creativity of Indian roads, where the driver’s way of life is expressed through the freedom of driving in the form of the aggressive overtaking of other vehicles. Who, of those of us who have grown accustomed to the rule of law and regulation, would prefer the latter to the former? As Radhakrishnan himself acknowledges, his intuitive response, a preference of the former to the latter, is already a mode of comparison, both tendentious and combative.
