Abstract
This is a review of the main foci of influence of Louis Dumont’s thought in contemporary social sciences. Several analytical currents will be described in which his contribution has been effective, with an emphasis on different aspects of his theories and ethnographic interests. The main areas currently influenced by his work investigated in this article are: kinship and studies of religion; the interpretation of the Indian cultural configuration; the theory of “hierarchy” and “methodological holism”; the history and sociology of the “ideology of individualism”; the status of the notion of “totality”; the dynamics of cultural change; the ethical dimension of the notion of “value”; and the anthropology of Western culture.
Keywords
Value; hierarchy; holism; individualismo; totality