Ph.D. in sociology from the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS). Lectured at Harvard (Department of Social Studies) from 1984 to 1987 and has been teaching at Sciences Po since 1988. Former research fellow at the Princeton University Institute for Advanced Studies (1997), the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin (1998), and the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard (2003-2004). Visiting professor at the New School for Social Research in New York since 2005.
Her research in political sociology focuses on Europe, nationalism, identities and communities.