13 Progressive ideas and movements (1750–1918)

Before you start

Main focus

Progressive ideas and movements during this period frequently caused turmoil and conflict, but they also improved people’s lives in countless ways.

Why it’s relevant today

With their origins in the 1700s, progressive ideas still inspire movements in the contemporary world, most recently the ‘Arab Spring’ in the Middle East.

Inquiry questions

• How did progressive ideas develop and where did they come from?
• What are the major progressive ideas that have shaped Western and non-Western societies over the last two centuries?
• Who were the major thinkers and activists associated with each of these ideas?
• How have they become embedded in social movements?
• Why are they called ‘progressive’?
• What is the significance of these ideas and movements today?

Key terms

• Anti-colonialism
• Anti-racism
• Capitalism
• Chartism
• Collectivism
• Egalitarianism
• Enlightenment
• Feminism
• Individualism
• Nationalism
• Social Darwinism
• Socialism

Significant individuals

• Adam Smith
• Charles Darwin
• Karl Marx
• Marie Olympe de Gouges
• Mary Wollstonecraft
• Mohandas Gandhi
• Robert Owen
• Tom Paine
• Toussaint L’Ouverture
• W.E.B. Du Bois

Pronunciation guide

Let’s begin

In contemporary Australia we may take for granted certain aspects of our lives, such as the right to vote for our leaders and to express our religious views or challenge religion, as well as the right to education, work and a decent standard of living. We expect to have those same rights whether we are male or female.

Yet these rights have not always been present. Indeed, they remain non-existent in parts of the world today. In this chapter we look at some of the people who first defined and sought these rights, who formed movements to fight for them and whose names are linked with them. Some of the thinkers have had such a broad personal impact that their names have become associated with the ideas they expressed (for example, Marxism and Darwinism). We look briefly at a wide range of ideas, focusing on one in particular: egalitarianism. The basic idea of egalitarianism is that everyone is born equal and free. This apparently simple idea has caused many wars and revolutions. The desire for equality was a key factor in the French Revolution, in the American War of Independence, in many anti-colonial struggles and, in a less violent but equally progressive context, in what is known as the women’s movement.