This short paper, a work in progress, invites the reader to reflect on a particular approach on comparative law through the example of the principle of proportionality rhetoric. I will situate the comparative law and culture approach among the vast literature on proportionality and on comparative law and develop the main theoretical and methodological assumptions that underpin it. After presenting the mainstream discourse on proportionality and fundamental rights (1), I will explain how a comparative study of the practice of proportionality in national jurisdictions could serve as an empirical basis for articulating a counterargument (2). In the last section (3), I will briefly present the basic features of the "law and culture" approach in the comparative study of legal transfers and how such an approach is concretely applicable to the comparative study of domestic practices on proportionality. 1. The mainstream discourse: the spread of proportionality, its function in the global constitutionalism narrative and the role of comparative law