Progress and societies

One concept that students at university seem to take for granted is 'progress': they assume that we, as a society, are constantly moving in positive direction. In this way, our society is becoming wealthier, fairer, more just and generally things are getting better. Below are some extracts from my book, Contemporary Society, and a brief discussion of the concept of 'progress.' The first extract looks at the background of this concept and then how it has come to be a fundamental 'belief ' with modern societies, before moving to question it.