This article has as its objective the difficult perception of "difference". A controversial theme, in the nineteenth century, this debate on cultural varieties, became a racial issue and in this sense, bonded to the regularities of biology. In such a context, this essay intends to provoke comparisons about the standard measure of intelligence and capacity, between Brazilian racial theorists and the impasse of more contemporary times. Appointed here will be the contradictions which have, more recently grown in importance, and have opposed through one aspect, local ethnic groups and through another the greatly publicized globalization. As are the two sides of a coin, the affirmation of identities has shown itself as evident as the tightening of international relations. The terms of the debate change from race to ethnicism, but in some way, we are still tied to a positivist logic which establishes ontologic hierarchies.
Inequality; Difference; Race; Ethnicity; Culture; Biological determinism