Idea of progress - publié le 11/08/2020

Résumé du document

How were the Sixties a turning point for the notion of progress? First, we'll see that it was the time technological progress went mainstream, and then we'll take a look at how this allowed social change.

Extraits

[...] By becoming mainstream, technological progress also allowed social progress to happen. Since life became easier, and people became more independent and connected to the world through technology, the fight they could lead for social issues became, if not easier, at least simpler to organize. With their car, people could reach other places quicker, and television, although often biased from government propaganda, allowed them to be informed. This was the case in the USA with the civil rights movement, as well as the anti-Vietnam war movement. [...]

[...] The Sixties were a turning point for the idea of progress for many reasons. As explained earlier, the crossing of technology into the mainstream led to the beginning of consumerism. But what is crucial to understand how this time period shaped today's western societies is actually how material progress allowed social progress. Both were closely intertwined and gave birth to many movements that have gone down in History: the hippy movement, the civil rights movement, Mai 68 in France. At the time, there was a deep faith in progress. [...]

[...] The idea of progress, as we understand it today is relatively new to mankind. We can actually date it back to the Renaissance, when many scientific discoveries, but also social and political changes took place. Society's slow detachment from the Church allowed it to put the emphasis on the future, and not on moral. But progress really became a thing with the industrialization: machines were invented, and the faith in technology's ability to improve human condition grew bigger. That's when progress really transformed into an idea, a goal in itself. [...]

[...] The sixties were a turning point for the idea of progress, mainly because that was the time when technology crossed to the mainstream. During the industrialization and after, technological inventions stayed in the realms of industry and sometimes of prowess-making (airplanes, phones . The general audience could not directly benefit from it, but it still remained a source of amazement. The sixties, however, saw technology begin to reach a much larger audience: this was the beginning of consumerism. Progress and consumerism are not the same things, but the latter feeds on the former in order to exist. [...]