^aUniversité libre de Bruxelles/Cevipol, avenue Jeanne 44 — CP 124, Bruxelles 1050, Belgium. E-mail: acrespy@ulb.ac.be

Abstract

More than 2 years after the failed French referendum on the European constitutional treaty (ECT), this paper puts contention over Europe within the French left in perspective both in the context of the coming of age of anti-globalization (or global justice) ideas as well as the 2007 Presidential election. On a theoretical level, the analysis relies on a combination of the organizational approach of political parties on the one hand and concepts developed in sociology of collective action (or social movements) on the other. It is argued that, while the cognitive context related to anti-globalization mobilization has strongly affected the PS, the institutional and intra-party elements of the political opportunity structure seem to have determined interactions between actors and eventually the tactical manoeuvring of some PS personalities to a wider extent.