Carrière du capital social et segmentation du marché : évolution des effets des relations sur les trajectoires professionnelles des architectes d’intérieur

Abstract

Among all the strategic resources available for occupying a place in a market, sociologists have paid close attention to one in particular: social capital. However, this concept suffers from the absence of a stable definition; and the studies devoted to it are mostly static. A dynamic analysis of social capital and its impact on occupational trajectories is presented through the special case of interior designers. It serves to show how a person's useful social capital develops as his/her career evolves from networks of strong ties, which were used to find a place in the market, toward networks of weaker ties, which enabled the person to maintain this place. We cannot be satisfied, however, with a mere description of the characteristics of relations in the home designer's social capital “portfolio”. By analyzing the characteristics of persons in these networks, the factors are brought to light that underlie the market segmentation of these personalized services in France, as these professionals are gradually committed to occupy niches. Light is thus shed on the paradoxical effects of using social capital as a competitive resource: though necessary to make the interior designer's position secure, it also entails specific risks from which these professionals cannot elude.