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L’auteur cherche à démontrer comment une société-monde est en train d’émerger, à travers les différentes dynamiques qui restructurent nos sociétés contemporaines. Deux éléments sont considérés comme étant à la base de cette nouvelle réalité sociale : le développement d’un imaginaire global et la diffusion d’une culture mondiale. L’auteur reprend le paradigme élaboré par Benedict Anderson, à propos des identités nationales, pour cette fois l’appliquer au niveau mondial. On soutient que les « appels à la transcendance » du cadre national et l’élaboration d’un « temps mondial » constituent de véritables éléments attestant du développement d’un imaginaire mondial. Enfin, l’auteur explique comment la diffusion d’une culture globale est possible par l’entremise de l’hybridité culturelle et la production de référents de plus en plus commun à un auditoire mondial., The author tries to demonstrate how a world society is emerging through new realities that are restructuring our contemporaries' societies. Two elements are considered essentials in the construction of that new reality: the development of a global imagination and the diffusion of a world culture. The author use the paradigm elaborated by Benedict Anderson on national identities to apply it at the world level. It is argue that «global challenges» and the elaboration of a «world time» constituted important elements demonstrating the development of a global imagination. Finally, the author explains how, through cultural hybridity and the production of common cultural products, the diffusion of a world culture is been achieved., El autor trata de demostrar como una sociedad-mundo está emergiendo, a través de las diferentes dinámicas que reestructuran nuestras sociedades contemporáneas. Dos elementos son considerados como estando a la base de ésta nueva realidad social: el desarrollo de un imaginario global y la difusión de una cultura mundial. El autor retoma el paradigma elaborado por Benedict Anderson, a propósito de las identidades nacionales, para ésta vez aplicarlo a nivel mundial. Sostiene que los «llamados a la trascendencia» del contexto nacional y la elaboración de un «tiempo mundial» constituyen elementos verídicos que atestan del desarrollo de un imaginario mundial. Por último, el autor explica como la difusión de una cultura global por posible par intermediación de la hibridez cultural y la producción de referentes que son de más en más comunes a un auditorio mundial.

The Internet is a place made of worldwide interactions, and as such it is an environment of the World. Its technical specifications gather opposing views concerning relations to the World, which coincide nevertheless in the recognition of fundamental rights. The comparison of legislative measures encompassing Net neutrality around the World reveals the rise of fundamental liberties and founding taboos. These elements materialize the framework of a possible worldwide sharing of values. These values are engraved in norms and discussed in world institutions, which makes the Internet an environment conducive to the rise of a World-society, a situation where the World is the place of a society. This PhD dissertation analyzes the emergence of the World-society through the joint futures of Internet and the World.

Réflexion encore en forme d’ébauche qui appelle à revenir à une sociologie critique pour permettre aux citoyens du monde d’identifier leur nouvelle classe dominante et de lui faire contrepoids avant qu’elle ne soit devenue trop puissante. Le premier constat est celui d’une plus grande invisibilité des dominants et des dirigeants réels : le patron de la firme qui vivait à côté du siège a cédé la place à des actionnaires instables et agissant à travers des intermédiaires. Les inégalités croissent pourtant toujours. C’est la nouveauté principale de notre période : l’apparition d’une nouvelle classe sociale de très très riches qui profitent de l’absence de gouvernance liée au recul des États. La puissance financière de cette classe s’exprime déjà politiquement et peut modifier durablement la structure de la société-monde à venir. In the last 30 years appears a new social class: very very rich people. Nowadays some humans became as powerful as states and this is new. The author thinks on domination and power consequences of that change. He asks sociologists to do their job in describing who actually masters our society. We lack description on who are and what do these members of the new dominant social class, so this paper is the draft of a work up to do. Los sociólogos han perdido el norte. Relaciones de dominación y relaciones laboralesSe trata de un bosquejo de elaboración de una sociología crítica que permita a los ciudadanos del orbe identificar a la nueva clase dominante para oponer un contrapeso antes de que esta sea demasiado poderosa. La primera constatación es la de la creciente invisibilidad de la clase dirigente actual: el dirigente que vivía cerca de la sede social de la empresa cede el lugar a accionarios difíciles de localizar y que actúan a través de intermediarios. Las desiguales aumentan constantemente. Es la novedad principal del periodo actual: la aparición de una nueva clase social muy rica que se aprovecha de la ausencia de la disminución de la capacidad de gobernanza del Estado. El poderío financiero de esta nueva clase comienza a plasmarse políticamente y puede modificar de manera duradera la sociedad global del futuro.

The aim of this thesis is to understand the World as a full-fledged object, namely as the space of a society. This objective is at the same time necessary and problematic. It is necessary because the sudden end of the Cold War entailed the need of new conceptual frameworks to understand the World without the confrontation of two ideological blocs. In parallel, the acceleration of globalization based on transnational and reticular processes profoundly questioned the apportionment of the World in territories and the classical distinction between the national and international spheres. This phenomenon also brought about the emergence of social issues (such as AIDS and climate change) and of non-state actors (such as globalized companies and Non-Governmental Organizations) which cannot be understood without taking into account their global dimension. Faced with these profound changes, it is important to be able to apprehend the World in its global dimension, going beyond its economic aspects. The so-called Global society model, which considers the existence of a global society as a possible option, allows this. However, the methodological nationalism – on which social sciences were based and according to which each society is necessarily linked with a territory, a State and a nation – makes it difficult to use this model to understand the World. Social sciences concepts, theories and methods were developed to conceive the World as a sum of objects (i.e. states, civilizations) and not as a full-fledged object. To go beyond this limit, the approach of this thesis is to apprehend the World through its issues and actors. In particular, I tried to understand if, and how, the involvement of the Lafarge company in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic between 2002 and 2005 contributed to the development of a global society. Through the results of participant observation and an analysis of non-directive interviews with managers from Lafarge who were involved in the development of the company's AIDS program, I identified three main contributions to the emergence of a global society. First, the company contributed to the social construction of the AIDS epidemic as a global issue : in particular, the global approach the company adopted to deal with the AIDS epidemic was notably different from its traditional modus operandi in the field of social responsibility based on a local and decentralized approach. In addition, through its decision to provide its employees, their families and sometimes local communities with antiretroviral treatments in certain circumstances, the company participated in global controversies on cost-effectiveness of triple therapy, use of generic drugs and health as a global public good. Second, Lafarge's AIDS program contributed to reinforce the global dimension of the group, mainly by providing the power of the corporate with legitimacy, but also by contributing to the development of a global identity and by promoting interactions among subsidiaries. Third, the company contributed to building a global political arena, in particular through its interactions with a series of other global actors belonging to the same responsibility community. These interactions created legitimacy, transparency, institutions and norms at the global level, contributing to the emergence of a transnational deliberative arena. This thesis thus shows that it is possible to view the world as a full-fledged object and to overcome methodological nationalism by studying transnational objects, such as a globalized company and a global issue. It shows that Lafarge's involvement in the fight against AIDS contributes to the emergence of a global societal reference with a strong political dimension.