Abstract (EN)

This article examines thecontribution of the identificationprocess in building up a communityof practice. Despite the presence ofartefacts and activities typical of theemergence of a common identity, thetransformation of the network understudy into a community of practiceappears incomplete. The constructionprocess gets stuck in its own production,its identity dynamics preventinga real confrontation of the individualstrategies. Identity thus appears as auseful disguise of more fundamentaloppositions. So the community iscaught up in an "identity trap", asituation in which identity buildingovershadows the ongoing practicalconcerns and strategies of the participants.