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Both of these words seem to mean much the same thing: working together to achieve some goal. I can instinctively feel a difference between them, but I can't easily put it into words.
Can you help me? Do these words come from different etymologies which might explain the difference?
Cooperating means working with someone in the sense of enabling: making them more able to do something (typically by providing information or resources they wouldn't otherwise have).
Collaborating means actually working alongside someone (from Latin laborare: to work) to achieve something.
The confusion comes from the overloaded meaning of "work with": In the "Work with me, people" sense, it means to go along with my idea - it's a passive condoning or suspension of disbelief rather than an active involvement. In the "I'm stuck, can you work with me on this problem?" sense it is a request for active commitment.
So in terms of helping achieve something, the ordering is something like collaboration, then cooperation, then passive indifference, then active obstruction.
I think it has to do with ownership of the outcome. If you collaborate with me on a project, we have shared authorship. Cooperation could just mean that you've given me help on something I'm working on and that I'm ultimately responsible for.
If you start with etymologies, you can see that
also co-operate, c.1600, from L.L. cooperatus, pp. of cooperari "to work together with" (see cooperation). Related: Cooperated; cooperating.
and
1871, back formation from collaborator (1802), from Fr. collaborateur, from L. collaboratus, pp. of collaborare "work with," from com- "with" (see com-) + labore "to work" (see labor). Given a bad sense in World War II. Related: Collaborated; collaborating.
share the meaning coming from "to operate" and "to labor", whose meaning in the "co(m)-" sense is almost indistinguishable.
So, the actual usage is what distinguishes the two words; dictionary entries are almost the same, with the exception from the etymology, that collaborate took a specific meaning during WWII of "cooperate treasonably, as with an enemy occupation force in one's country."
Also, cooperate can be used for when someone is said to simply "be compliant" - without proactive involvement; where collaborate does imply a bit more active involvement ("cooperate" has slightly wider application, which might be directly related to the fact that the word started to be used almost two centuries before "collaborate").
I agree that the distinction is "active" or "inactive" participation. People can "cooperate" with no action at all. Not true with "collaborate". I took a "Collaboration and Facilitation" class in college. We talked about the difference between "Cooperate" and "Collaborate" and felt it was distinct. For example, when facilitating a meeting where a group is trying to solve problems and make decisions, the goal is collaboration. We want each party to participate and come to a shared-ownership agreement. "Let's make decisions together." When someone only presents a solution, the other parties aren't part of the decision-making process so they are "cooperating". "Do you agree with this decision?"
All collaboration is cooperation but not all cooperation is collaboration.
The sense of collaboration comes from the Latin "labōrāre to work" and this was physical work and co -> together*.
The sense of cooperation comes from the the Latin "operārī" to work but this had less of the "physical aspect to it, rather a general "doing"*.
As a simple example, I can cooperate with you by doing nothing except ignore what you are doing, but should not be doing.
To collaborate, I would have to do something active.
*(See See 11. Lexical Functions (Vol.1) - De Gruyter https://www.degruyter.com › document › doi › pdf Operi [Lat. operāri '[to] do, carry out'] ... labōrāre '[to] work, toil'])
collaborate- different people working on the same project but in different areas in order to work towards a common goal.
co-operation -different people working on the same project but in the same areas in order to work towards a common goal. (or achieve a common goal )
Please allow a foreign amateur to propose a slightly different angle to the problem - timing. To me co-operation and co-laboration tastes like:
That would lead to cooperation being linked to "partnering" (for common long-term benefits), while collaboration is linked to "agreement" (like a contract for a common short-term benefit).
