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The Mobilisation of the European Left in the early 21st Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2005

ALBENA AZMANOVA
ALBENA AZMANOVA
Affiliation:
Vesalius College, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Institut d'Études Politiques, Paris [azmanova@skynet.be]
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Abstract

This study discerns peculiarities in the electoral mobilisation in EU member states in recent years and examines the effect of current social transformations on political discourse and voting behaviour. The overall change is traced to the emergence of opportunity-vs-risk vectors of political identification, challenging the capital vs labour dynamics of conflict. The decline in electoral support for traditional Left parties is attributed to the failure of the European Left to adjust to this realignment.

Quels sont les traits distinctifs de la mobilisation politique dans les pays de l'union euopéenne? et quels sont les effets des transformations sociales en cours sur le discours politique et sur le comportement électoral? La marque du changement est l'apparition dans l'identification politique d'un vecteur opportunisme versus risque qui surpasse la dynamique du conflit capital versus travail. Le déclin du poids électoral des partis de gauche traditionnels traduit l'incapacité à en prendre acte ainsi que le manifeste la gauche européenne.

Dieser Aufsatz untersucht die unterschiedliche Wahlbeteiligung in den Staaten der Europäischen Union und zeigt, in wieweit die sozialen Veränderungen das politische Handeln und das Wählerverhalten beeinflussen. Zeichen dieser Veränderung ist die Tatsache, dass das politische Zugehörigkeitsgefühl heute u.a. durch den Vektor Opportunismus gegen Risiko bestimmt wird und nicht wie ehedem durch Kapital gegen Arbeit. Die linken Parteien verlieren Wählerstimmen, da die europäischen Linke unfähig ist, sich dieser inhaltlichen Veränderung anzupassen.

Type
Research Article
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 45 , Issue 2 , August 2004 , pp. 273 - 306
Copyright
© 2004 Archives Européennes de Sociology

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Footnotes

This work was initiated as a study conducted for the United European Left/Nordic Green group of the European Parliament in view of the European elections forthcoming in June 2004. I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to the team of the Hoover Chair for Social and Economic Ethics (Headed by Philippe van Parijs) of the Catholic University of Louvain for providing a medium for discussion in the early stages of work. I am also grateful for the stimulating feedback I received from Claus Offe, (Humboldt University, Berlin), Jean Laponce (University of British Columbia), Chris Bertram (University of Bristol), Ira Katznelson (Columbia University, New York), and Arthur Mitzman (Amsterdam University) on earlier drafts. Their honest commentary gave vigour to my writing efforts, while I remain responsible for the ultimate content and organization of the ideas in this work.