Abstract

The concept of work has taken on a broader meaning; however, a dominant economic vision brings the work solely to the participation in the market. This vision is an obstacle to understanding social transformations of work, and the intertwining of market and non-market activities, voluntary and civil commitment. While it appears that the ability to self-fulfilment and autonomy penetrates work as well as other spheres of life, obstacles to its implementation seems to increase. Ralf Dahrendorf was critical to the definitions that tend to place work and liberty in two separate spheres and developed a concept of work that includes active liberty. This approach assigns the individual and collective social actors a role of agency impressing the direction of social change.