**7. Conclusion**

As noted earlier, this is a moment of deep and widespread transformation of social institutions, including universities and their related educational, research and publication contexts. In this respect, it resembles the beginnings of the early modern era in European history; this may well be the "other end" of Western modernity and its philosophies of science. It seems to be a moment when we educated elites in the modern West can only now begin to glimpse the fact that Liberal democracy's meritocracy is a contradiction in terms, as many less fortunate groups have already understood. It does not encourage us to collaborate with others or treat them as equals. We can have a meritocracy or a democracy, but not both [27].

Our recognition of this tension can be a productive event. As a start, we can learn to "walk together" respectfully with peoples whom Western modernity has marked as deeply different from us. Standpoint methodology and its strong objectivity standard can be useful resources for this project.
