Abstract (EN)

This paper aims to analyze the social and political conditions of the alterglobalist movement development in Europe. Based on two surveys conducted in 2003 during the anti-G8 demonstration in France and Switzerland and during the European Social Forum in Paris, this article maps the resources necessary to lead the activists to international protests. The analyzed database especially emphasizes the importance of social, cultural, and political capitals. The more highly educated the activists are, the more they take part in the organization of these events. The greater their political experiences—in classical political organizations, such as parties or trades unions—, the more they are likely to travel abroad in order to express their opposition to globalization. In short, these activists can be described as cosmopolites, but « rooted cosmopolites » deeply embedded in the logic of national state institutions.