Health, diseases and environment : between the global and the local

As Latour argues in Où atterrir, comment s’orienter en politique (2017), today the term “local” is often associated with nostalgic and defensive positions, linked to particularity, subjectivity, and sensibility, in contrast to the “global,” which is viewed as a horizon of universality, objectivity, and rationality. To claim proximity to patients or communities suffering from toxic exposure risks being perceived as merely expressing emotional responses rather than offering an analytical perspective on the situation. This is probably why discourses on health, disease and the role of the environment in the emergence of new diseases often prioritise global approaches such as One Health, Global Health and Integrative Health.

In this two-day conference, we aim to take an analytical and critical approach to universal concepts and norms that tend to obscure differences between individuals, the heterogeneity of situations, and localised or individualised approaches to disease and health. Our aim is to examine local health practices, particular behaviours, care strategies and exposures to toxic substances in order to understand how people develop care strategies that differ from those promoted by global public health norms, or how individuals sometimes challenge or reject recommendations disseminated by public health discourses.

Program :

Wednesday, November 5 –
Seminar Room – workshop CHARM

12:00 pm – Lunch (on site)

Presentation length: 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion.Chair J. Pieters (Ghent University)

2.00-2.30 pm - I. Voléry, E. Simon, C. Crignon (Université de Lorraine): Presentation of the Trapps Project

2 :30-3:00 – Coffee break

3.00-3.45 pm – (30 mn plus 15 questions)
Dr. Rong Huang (Peking University), Yiwen Hutong: The Symbiosis of Medicine and Literature in Traditional Chinese Texts.  

3:45–4:00 pm – Break

4:00–5:00 pm – Charm Meeting
Chair J. Pieters & Z. Ghyzelinck

Zoom link between 2.30 pm and 5.00 pm
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Thursday, November 6 
Seminar Room – Public lectures

9:00 am – Welcome Coffee

Chair A. Zielinska (Université de Lorraine)

9:30 am – Gwenola Le Naour (Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Lyon) – “Health and Toxic Environments”.

10:30–11:00 am– Coffee Break

Chair C. Crignon (Université de Lorraine)

11:00–11:30 Aam– Sari Altschuler (Northeastern University)
“Insisting on the Local: Uncoupling Race and Madness in the Early United States”

11:30 AM–12:00 pm – Chris Parsons (Northeastern University)
“Planetary Histories of Smallpox in Colonial New England”

12:00–2:00 pm – Lunch (on site)

Chair – R. Wakote (Université de Lorraine)

2:00–2:30 pm – “Patient-reported outcomes measurement invariance for international comparisons of local experiences and health issues”.
Francis Guillemin (Université de Lorraine)

2:30–3:00 pm – “Virtual Reality and the Well-Being of Older Adults in Long-Term Care Facilities:France’s position in international perspective”.
Nora Bezaz and Anika Schumacher (Grenoble École de Management).

3:00–3:30 pm – Coffee Break

Chair I. Voléry (Université de Lorraine)

3:30–4:00 PM – “Reverse Care at the End of Life”
Jun Jing Min Song (Tsinghua University, China).

4:00–4:30 pm – General Discussion and Conclusion