Communication is the most important field for the study of many key dimensions of social change. This is the basic premise of this text presented at the opening of the annual conference of International Communication Association in 2011. The subject brings a lot of reflections about a series of issues on identity, methodologies, borders and paths for studies and practices in the field. Making a parallel with other disciplines that have gone through the same process, the conclusion is that the field of Communication longer needs to preserve the richness of its interdisciplinary than to search for answers in an apparent, and sometimes false, scientific autonomy.
Communication; Interdisciplinary; Scientific Field; Autonomy