Le piège identitaire: identification sociale et strategies d'acteurs dans une communaute de pratique

This article examines the contribution of the identification process in building up a community of practice. Despite the presence of artefacts and activities typical of the emergence of a common identity, the transformation of the network under study into a community of practice appears incomplete. The construction process gets stuck in its own production, its identity dynamics preventing a real confrontation of the individual strategies. Identity thus appears as a useful disguise of more fundamental oppositions. So the community is caught up in an "identity trap", a situation in which identity building overshadows the ongoing practical concerns and strategies of the participants.