When the unemployed challenge the European Union : the European marches as a mode of externalization of protest

The movement widely known as the European marches against unemployment, job insecurity and social exclusion—first demonstrated its mobilization capacity in Amsterdam on June 14, 1997, when almost 50,000 people turned out against the holding of the European Summit. What made the event even more remarkable was the presence of demonstrators from many countries. Nor was the event's impact short-lived: in June 1999 marches took place involving some 30,000 people in protests against the European Summit in Cologne. This chapter will first examine the conditions for the emergence of a most unexpected movement. It attempts to show how a small number of entrepreneurs, despite the weak support of the institutional representative frameworks, gave collective and political meaning to the dissatisfaction of the unemployed. We will also show that the movement was able, by means of the “march” format, to make itself visible to the media and, more generally, to public opinion, both of which were then used as resources. We will then identify the strategic duality that permeates the movement, leading to a new mode of Europeanization of action: “the externalization of protest.