Table 1.

Contemporary globalization from a synchro-diachronic perspective

Synchronicdperspective on globalization = Matrix of meanings, System of social interactions “Global society” = Market society, Risk society, Technoscientific society, Networked and timeless society, Learning society

Forms of globalization(See Footnote # d) (“Forms” = Multiple and varied facets of globalization) f1: Globalization of capital (globalization of the financial sector) f2: Globalization of markets and strategies (globalization of spheres of production) f3: Globalization of technology, R&D and knowledge f4: Globalization of lifestyles, consumer models, and culture (global spread of consumption styles and brands) f5: Globalization of authority and regulation competencies (globalization of standards) f6: Globalization as a means of planetary political unification/instrument f7: Globalization of human conditions, planetary consciousness f8: Communication-media globalization

Globalization logics(See Footnote # d) (“Logic” = Abstract and schematic reasoning that permits an understanding of reality’s complexities) l1: Dromocratic logic (from the Greek dromos, “acceleration”) l2: Epidemic logic l3: Technoscientific logic l4: Cyber logic l5: Productive logic l6: Market logic

Diachronic perspective on globalization The period 1980–2009 is marked by an acceleration of history, seeing phenomena such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the rise of neoliberal ideology, a technological revolution, deepening inequalities between North and South, and the spread of pandemies. Despite Fukoyama’s proclamation of the “End of history”, we observe instead new and numerous histories, lived in fast-forward. Above all it’s a time of crisis. The specific crises that have marked the sociohistorical reality of the last quarter-century include: C1: Crisis of fordist capitalism (corresponding to the emergence of shareholder capitalism, [“soft capitalism”, “fictitious capital”]) C2: Crisis of welfare state (the decline of the Keynesian social state) C3: Institutional crisis (eg, a crisis of institutional thought coupled with the rise of managerial power) C4: Social/societal crisis (which is the expression of the growing emancipation from institutions and traditions) C5: Health-environmental crisis (which signals the beginning of the nuclear age, degradation of ecosystems, growing interest for inequalities in health) PHC: Public health crisis.

Specific histories that have marked sociohistorical reality during the last quarter-century: h1: History of the concept of health and determinants of health h2: History of HIV-1/AIDS h3: History of the fight against risk (history of risk and socialization of risks) h4: History of the evaluative process and sudden emergence of evidence-based practice in health h5: History of research, training, and advocacy in public health.