This article discusses teacher autonomy. It questions a contemporary understanding of the phenomenon that constructs it in terms of a control vs. freedom dichotomy. In relation to Nordic research on teacher autonomy a two dimensional device consisting of institutional autonomy and  service autonomy is presented. The first dimension focus the teaching profession as a collective in terms of rights and duties as well as status. The latter dimension considers the practical aspects of professionals’ work, in schools and classrooms. Teacher autonomy is always about control, exerted internally by the profession itself and facilitated externally by state standards. The analytical device is empirically examined in relation to the development of the Swedish teaching profession since the 1980’s. The autonomy of the Swedish teaching profession has been transformed over the subsequent years. In addition, the restriction of teacher autonomy in recent times is also related to a simplified understanding of the phenomenon through the deregulation, decentralization, changed distribution of responsibilities and marketization reforms of the 1990’s. This development has in some respects led to a reduction of complexity in the Swedish school system and an increased state standardization, which restricts teacher autonomy today.