The anthology examines the multiple demands placed on a self-responsible subject who reflects on and optimizes themselves and their practice, as well as the consequences of their potential overwhelm. This increasing demand, the thesis argues, results from the fundamental promise of modernity to enable all people to lead a self-determined life, which evidently not only represents a cultural claim but has also become a structural prerequisite for the functioning of key foundational institutions in Western societies. The volume impressively brings together empirical findings and theoretical considerations that address the relationships, changes, and potential tensions between autonomous practices and institutional demands in specific societal sectors and organizations.