SOCIAL CAPITAL AND LATERAL CONSTRAINT

In order to exert power and maintain collective action, it is often ne cessary to mobilize one's social resources, ''one's relations'', and t o know how to use them. This article examines this mobilization in ter ms of social capital conversion into lateral social constraints. The a nalysis is based on sociometric and three-way network data. More preci sely, it shows how partners in a collegial organization, a corporate l aw firm, use leverage (i.e. their connections within the firm) to put pressure on each other. It is shown that actors mobilize their own soc ial capital selectively, depending on the type of tie, the characteris tics of the ''owner'' of the social resources and the relations betwee n those involved. The development of lateral constraints thus appears to be the result of economic calculations, inextricably linked to part ners' strategic culture and definitions of identities.