The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria by Randall Packard examines the globalization and spreading of a disease, specifically malaria. The author goes into closer detail on the potency of malaria in different nations of the world; he discusses why it is more potent in some areas than others. The novel also closely examines the key factors (which are mainly the social forces) that allow malaria to be globalized in the first place. By reading the novel, one will acquire the knowledge of how malaria globalized from its origin to all of the other areas of the world.
In Anthony Giddens’ novel The Consequences of Modernity he refers to a concept known as “disembedding” which applies well to the novel by Randall Packard. The concept of “disembedding” is defined as “the lifting out of social relations from local contexts of interaction and their restructuring across indefinite spans of time-space.” (Giddens) By moving out of a local context and socializing with other nations and areas across the world, it is much easier for disease to globalize. This is the case within The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria; the author clearly establishes that malaria had its origins in Africa during early human life. The actual malaria parasite has existed for an incredibly long time, it has been said to have been existent since roughly 20,000 B.C. (Packard) Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease, and it mainly began to take effect on human life within the last 10,000 years; specifically during the start of agriculture (Neolithic Revolution). (Packard) During the Neolithic Revolution; agriculture was introduced and many humans were able to settle down and advance themselves for the better. However, this period of time was not completely filled with happiness and prosperity. By farming and doing other activities that coincide with agriculture, early African humans came into contact with mosquitoes quite a bit more. (Packard) This is believed to be when the disease was introduced to human life, and it definitely was not existent solely in Africa. Traces of Malaria were found thousands of years ago in countless different areas including Greece, Egypt and Rome. (Packard) This was most likely not related to Giddens’ concept of “disembedding” because of how early of a time period this was, other countries generally did not collaborate with one another because there were not many means of transportation developed yet. However, the spread of African mosquitoes to these foreign areas played a large part in the spreading of malaria. This is an example of globalization itself, if the mosquitoes were to simply remain in Africa the spreading of disease most likely would have been less rapid. Packard focuses on the human factors that caused the spread of malaria, however. Specifically, Packard focuses on social factors including war, famine, and human poverty. Packard explains in chapter 2 that malaria was introduced to Europe from Cathargo in Sardinia during the Carthaginian War, which is an example of the “disembedding” concept Giddens refers to. By the two different areas interacting, it was much easier for the disease to further spread. There are several other topics discussed in The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria that can be related to “disembedding”; which is why I am looking forward to using this novel for support in my final paper on the globalization of disease.
Globalization & Modernity (77) 
Globalization indeed has its benefits and downfalls. Disease spreading displays a downfall. “..malaria globalized from its origin to all of the other areas of the world.” You then explained how this relates to Giddens’ topic of disembedding. The globalization of malaria reminds me of when Giddens talked about how human beings live in a “created environment, an environment of action which is, of course, physical but no longer just natural” (Giddens, 60) Giddens goes on to explain that we humans can manipulate and control many aspects of our environment. The spread of malaria, (along with the spread of other diseases for which we have not yet found a cure) serves as a perfect example of how some things are still out of our control, despite our advancements made through industrialization. 100 years from now, will our advancements take care of issues like these?
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I found this article interesting because it goes against what we have learned from Giddens. Giddens talks about globalization as more of a modern change, a change that has not been around for a long period of time. However, this article shows through the spread of malaria that globalization has been around for a long period time. Reading this article also allowed me to see the disadvantages of globalization. One of the major disadvantages of globalization is the spread of diseases. The spread Malaria exemplifies the dangers of globalization. It is very concerning that Malaria, a disease that we have known about for so long still has no cure. If our society still has not found a cure for a disease like malaria, how will they find a cure a disease like Ebola?
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I really enjoyed the way this blog post was written in the sense that it did not just agree with Giddens like most do. You challenge his Idea that Modernization is a more recent social phenomenon, by using evidence from the text. You go on to explain how through advancements in agriculture, that people were able to stop being nomads and in turn, able to settle down in one place to plant and harvest their crops. I take this as a good thing. You then go on to say, By farming and doing other activities that coincide with agriculture, early African humans came into contact with mosquitoes quite a bit more.” I think this sentence show that with every advancement in technology, there is a negative outcome, an unavoidable outcome that cannot be foreseen. Malaria was a very big problem yet we barely ever think of it anymore. Do you think this could happen with a disease such as Aids through medical advancements? And if so, could there be any unforeseeable consequence?
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The notion of ” This was most likely not related to Giddens’ concept of “disembedding” because of how early of a time period this was, other countries generally did not collaborate with one another because there were not many means of transportation developed yet.” Early people knew of sickness, but knowledge was limited, early humans were carriers and spreaders of such things. States did exist have done measures, but more important question is, how has connectivity been a spreader of disease before modernity and is it similar to when it is in modernity?
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The spread of disease links to the negative aspect of globalization. This concept mirrors the more literal meaning of disembedding mechanisms. An actual parasite or infected person is being placed into a sterile environment and ultimately contaminating it. What factors make malaria and other diseases more susceptible in certain regions? Also, is it fair to negatively connote globalization because of such a serious factor like so?
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