Abstract (EN)

The opening of a cycle of transnational protest against globalization has been a major political phenom-enon since the 1990s and it is indeed a very complex subject to analyse. Being a multi-organizational field –horizontal, decentralized and ideologically multiple–, transnational activism first raises questionsof method. As it is shown in this paper by a genealogical approach focusing upon national contexts,anti-globalization movements offer a global frame as well as new resources and possibilities to long-standing political organizations. Then, the question of what builds the unity of such multileveled dynamics of contest is here examined through two collective inquiries based on the method of theIndividual Survey in Rallies. During the counter-G8 summit which took place in June 2003 in Francenear the Swiss border, and the second European Social Forum held in Paris and the suburbs six monthslater, more than 2.000 European militants answered the questionnaires that were submitted to them each time. It appears that no-global militants have in common a large “cultural capital”, a stable job, relativelyhigh social origins, and an international socialization. Beyond this unity, the statistical approach revealshow they are characterized by subtle sociographical, organizational and ideological differences. It alsobrings to the fore that the type of protest event –from the confrontative form of the counter-summit tothe more intellectual form of the Social Forum- partly defines the categories of militants who mobilize.