Abstract

Autonomy has been broadly discussed in the face of the transformations in work processes, from the alleged overcoming of the Fordist model at the end of the twentieth century to the changes induced by information technology in the 2000s. Nevertheless, the widespread definitions of autonomy have generally been distant from the term’s etymological meaning, which indicates autonomy as the subject’s capability to produce her own rules and, therefore, to manage her own processes of action. This contribution discusses the various conceptions of autonomy, also in relation to the different interpretations of cooperation and the different ways of conceiving and planning the structuring of work processes. It is a discussion that clarifies and explains the extensive literature on the subject while maintaining its topicality.