Progressivism is the support for or advocacy
of improvement of society by reform. As a
philosophy, it is based on the idea of progress,
which asserts that advancements in science,
technology, economic development and social
organization are vital to the improvement
of the human condition.
The meanings of progressivism have varied
over time and from different perspectives.
Progressivism became highly significant during
the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, out of
the belief that Europe was demonstrating that
societies could progress in civility from
uncivilized conditions to civilization through
strengthening the basis of empirical knowledge
as the foundation of society. Figures of the
Enlightenment believed that progress had universal
application to all societies and that these
ideas would spread across the world from Europe.The
contemporary common political conception of
progressivism in the culture of the Western
world emerged from the vast social changes
brought about by industrialization in the
Western world in the late-19th century. Progressives
in the early-20th century took the view that
progress was being stifled by vast economic
inequality between the rich and the poor;
minimally regulated laissez-faire capitalism
with monopolistic corporations; and intense
and often violent conflict between workers
and capitalists, thus claiming that measures
were needed to address these problems. Early-20th
century progressivism was also tied to eugenics
and the temperance movement. Contemporary
progressives promote public policies that
they believe will lead to positive social
change.
== Progressivism in philosophy and politics
==
=== From the Enlightenment to the Industrial
Revolution ===
Immanuel Kant identified progress as being
a movement away from barbarism towards civilization.
18th-century philosopher and political scientist
Marquis de Condorcet predicted that political
progress would involve the disappearance of
slavery, the rise of literacy, the lessening
of inequalities between the sexes, reforms
of harsh prisons and the decline of poverty.
"Modernity" or "modernization" was a key form
of the idea of progress as promoted by classical
liberals in the 19th and 20th centuries who
called for the rapid modernization of the
economy and society to remove the traditional
hindrances to free markets and free movements
of people. German philosopher Georg Wilhelm
Friedrich Hegel was influential in promoting
the idea of progress in European philosophy
by emphasizing a linear-progressive conception
of history and rejecting a cyclical conception
of history. Karl Marx applied to his writings
the Hegelian conception of linear-progressive
history, the modernization of the economy
through industrialization and criticisms of
the social class structure of industrial capitalist
societies. As industrialization grew, concerns
over its effects grew beyond Marxists and
other radical critiques and became mainstream.
=== Contemporary mainstream political conception
===
In the late 19th century, a political view
rose in popularity in the Western world that
progress was being stifled by vast economic
inequality between the rich and the poor,
minimally regulated laissez-faire capitalism
with out-of-control monopolistic corporations,
intense and often violent conflict between
workers and capitalists and a need for measures
to address these problems. Progressivism has
influenced various political movements. Modern
liberalism was influenced by liberal philosopher
John Stuart Mill's conception of people being
"progressive beings". British Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli developed progressive conservatism
under "one-nation" Toryism. Similarly in Imperial
Germany, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck enacted
various progressive social welfare measures
out of conservative motivations to distance
workers from the socialist movement of the
time and as humane ways to assist in maintaining
the Industrial Revolution. Proponents of social
democracy have identified themselves as promoting
the progressive cause. The Roman Catholic
Church encyclical Rerum novarum issued by
Pope Leo XIII in 1891 condemned the exploitation
of labour and urged support for labour unions
and government regulation of businesses in
the interests of social justice while upholding
the rights of private property and criticizing
socialism. A Protestant progressive outlook
called the Social Gospel emerged in North
America that focused on challenging economic
exploitation and poverty and by the mid-1890s
was common in many Protestant theological
seminaries in the United States.In the United
States, progressivism began as a social movement
in the 1890s and grew into a political movement
in what was known as the Progressive Era.
While the term "American progressives" represent
a range of diverse political pressure groups
(not always united), some American progressives
rejected social Darwinism, believing that
the problems society faced (poverty, violence,
greed, racism and class warfare) could best
be addressed by providing good education,
a safe environment, and an efficient workplace.
Progressives lived mainly in the cities, were
college educated and believed that government
could be a tool for change. American President
Theodore Roosevelt of the Republican Party
and later the Progressive Party declared that
he "always believed that wise progressivism
and wise conservatism go hand in hand". President
Woodrow Wilson was also a member of the American
progressive movement within the Democratic
Party.
Progressive stances have evolved over time.
Imperialism was a controversial issue within
progressivism in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, particularly in the United States
where some progressives supported American
imperialism while others opposed it.In response
to World War I, progressive President Woodrow
Wilson's Fourteen Points established the concept
of national self-determination and criticized
imperialist competition and colonial injustices;
these views were supported by anti-imperialists
in areas of the world that were resisting
imperial rule. During the period of acceptance
of economic Keynesianism (1930s to 1970s),
there was widespread acceptance in many nations
of a large role for state intervention in
the economy. With the rise of neoliberalism
and challenges to state interventionist policies
in the 1970s and 1980s, centre-left progressive
movements responded by creating the Third
Way that emphasized a major role for the market
economy. There have been social democrats
who have called for the social democratic
movement to move past Third Way. Prominent
progressive conservative elements in the British
Conservative Party have criticized neoliberalism.
== See also ==
Social and political philosophy portal
Progressive Era
Progressivism in the United States
Progressive conservatism
Socialism
== References ==
BibliographyTindall, George and Shi, David
E. America: A Narrative History. W W Norton
& Co Inc; Full Sixth edition, 2003. ISBN 0-393-92426-2.
Lakoff, George. Don't Think of an Elephant:
Know Your Values and Frame the Debate. Chelsea
Green Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-931498-71-7.
Kelleher, William J. Progressive Logic: Framing
A Unified Field Theory of Values For Progressives.
The Empathic Science Institute, 2005. ISBN
0-9773717-1-9.
Kloppenberg, James T.. Uncertain Victory:
Social Democracy and Progressivism in European
and American Thought, 1870–1920. Oxford
University Press, U.S., 1988. ISBN 0-19-505304-4.
Link, Arthur S. and McCormick, Richard L..
Progressivism (American History Series). Harlan
Davidson, 1983. ISBN 0-88295-814-3.
McGerr, Michael. A 
Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the
Progressive Movement in America, 1870–1920.
2003.
Schutz, Aaron. Social Class, Social Action,
and Education: The Failure of Progressive
Democracy. Palgrave, Macmillan, 2010. ISBN
978-0-230-10591-1.
== External links ==
Media related to Progressivism at Wikimedia
Commons
