The two forms of social capital. Relational structure of PhD committees and recruitment in French political science, Unpublishedtranslation of “Les deux formes du capital social. Structure relationnelle des jurys de thèses et recrutement en science politique”, Revue française de sociologie, 2004, vol. 45, n°2, p. 243-282.

Résumé En

Research on social networks has shown two patterns of relations between individuals that may work as a capital: opened, diverse and porous relational forms on the one hand, dense, closed and stable relational forms on the other hand. The efficiency of these two forms, far from being contradictory, meets two forms of competition: one is the individual quest of personal advantages within the group, the other is the setting-up and mobilization of the group in its competition with other groups. The possible coexistence of the two effects appears in our case study about PhD committees in Political Sciences as we show the impact of networks of invitations to these committees on doctors' employment. We argue that on a short term and personal scale, having an heterogeneous committee, that is members lightly interconnected with the PhD supervisor, adds value to the PhD itself within the discipline and helps the doctor in finding a job. Conversely, on a long term and collective level, the constitution of a dense and cohesive network based on institutions, whether universities or sub-disciplines, enhances the defense, reproduction or extension of the group in its competition with other groups.