Social Progress

Concepts About SOCIAL PROGRESS

What is Social Progress?

• Is the idea that societies can improve in terms of
  • Social Structures
  • Political Structures
  • Economic Structures
• Caused by
  • direct human interaction
    • Social Enterprise
    • Social Activism
  • Natural part of Sociocultural evolution

History of the Concept of Social Progress

• The Enlightenment (1650-1800)
  • Move from God's changing society and people's way of life to people themselves
  • Giambattista Vico: Because people made their own society, they could also fully comprehend it.
  • Leap into proto-sciences with new scientific knowledge about what society was like and how one may change it for the better
  • Conservational Opinion:
    • Attempts to radically remake society normally make things worse, society changes organically and naturally
    • grand plans (like Revolution, National Socialism and Communism) for remaking of society hurt society by removing traditional constraints on the exercise of power
  • Progressive Opinion and the Notion of Freedom
    • people independently making their own live using judgement.
    • Jean-Jacques Rousseau: People are born free, but are everywhere in chains.
    • French Revolution 1789 inspired new philosophical thought
    • Hegel: History radically recasts itself as continual development of humanity towards ever-greater freedom, continually extending the limits of freedom
• Marxist Theory of Historical Materialism (Late 19th Century)
  • Communist Manifesto: "The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. Conservation of the old modes of production in unaltered form, was, on the contrary, the first condition of existence for all earlier industrial classes. Constant revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty, and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones. All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all which is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real condition of life and his relations with his kind."
  • Process of Social Progress: "No social order is ever destroyed before all the productive forces for which it is sufficient have been developed, and new superior relations of production never replace older ones before the material conditions for their existence have matured within the framework of the old society."
  • Against Capitalism: Process of continual change, which growth of markets dissolve all fixities in human life. Capitalism is progressive and non-reactionary. Capitalism in its quest for higher profits and new markets, will sow seeds of its own destruction. and be replaced by socialism and eventually communism,
• Modernist Liberalist Thought (20th Century)
  • George Bernard Shaw: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man"
  • Same as Marxism: Possibility and desirability of continual change and improvement. and the belief in Modernism: power of human beings to make, improve and reshape their society, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation.
  • For Capitalism
• Postmodernist Thought (late 20th Century)
  • Rather than over-emphasis on technological achievements and material prosperity, focus instead on the value of inner happiness and peace of mind.
  • Dystopia and Utopia are the same, overarching grand narrative with impossible conclusions.
• Contemporary Trends
  • Neo-Conservatism: Old idea that nothing ever changes in the human condition, and the eternal values of religion. Ability of people to change anything other than themselves is vastly overrated. Better to honor a traditional way of life which proved itself superior in the past.
  • Neo-Liberalism: Affirms power and potential of change, but only on a personal, individual level. The idea that the state should be an instrument of social betterment in society as a whole is rejected. Only free choices in markets can result in social progress
  • Resource-based Economy/ The Zeitgeist Movement: Replaces the need of current monetary economy which is "scarcity-oriented/based" World is rich in natural resources and energy, with modern technology and judicious efficiency the needs of the global population can be met with abundance, while same time remove current limitations of what is deemed possible due to notions of economic viability.
  • Radicalism: Questioning the objective criteria which we can measure human social progress. Rejects political traditions of the past and variety of criteria be applied to assess social progress. (e.g. using labor productivity only misses out on areas like infant mortality) Authentic lived experience in society with all its complexities should be emphasized.

How do we Measure Social Progress?

The Social Progress Index

• by the International Organisation Imperative Social Progress
• Measures extent to which countries cover social and environmental needs of citizenry
• 52 indicators in 3 areas/dimensions
  • Basic Human Needs
  • Foundations of Wellbeing
  • Opportunities

OECD Better Life Index

World Values Survey

World Happiness Report

Where-to-be-born Index

Buthan GNH Index

DALY Disability-adjusted life year

Green National Product

Gender-related Development Index

Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI)

Gross National Happiness

Gross National Well-being

Happy Planet Index

Human Development Index

Legatum Prosperity Index

Leisure Satisfaction

Other Concepts related to Social Progress

Wiki Progress

http://wikiprogress.org/

• Online platform for sharing information
• on the measurement of progress in terms of
  • social
  • economic
  • environmental
• Facilitate sharing on ideas, initiatives and knowledge on measuring the progress of societies

Broad Measures of Economic Progress (Beyond GDP by EU, Better Lives Compendiim of Indicators by OECD, Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Index)

Progress (history)

Law of Social Cycle

Progressive Utilization Theory

Happiness Economics

Money-Rich, Time-poor

Post-Materialism

Subjective Life Satisfaction