Techno-progressivism

Originating in the 1990s, techno-progressivism is a sociopolitical concept focused on the societal implications and potential applications of emerging technologies. Techno-progressivism broadly advocates for the technology-based democratization of political, social, and economic systems and for using technology to achieve greater levels of social equity. Adherents of techno-progressivist viewpoints are commonly known as techno-progressives, or “techno-progs.”

Commentators more specifically define techno-progressivism as seeking to integrate technology and scientific advancement with the progressive perspectives associated with the political spectrum’s left wing. It has also come to be associated with transhumanism, which broadly posits that technology can and should be used to enhance human physical and cognitive capabilities. Transhumanism is diametrically opposed by a concept known as bioconservatism, which takes a skeptical view of transhumanist ideals and instead supports the slow and cautious integration of technology and biology. Meanwhile, techno-progressivism finds its opposition in the competing concept of technoconservatism, which generally seeks to slow down or even stop the rate of technological progress and its integration with human society.

Background

The term “progressivism” historically describes individuals, institutions, and groups that have advocated for advancement-oriented social, political, and economic change. During the Age of Enlightenment (ca. 1685–ca. 1815) in Western civilization, the concept of progressivism most directly applied to the era’s unprecedented expansion of scientific knowledge and the growing international movements advocating for the radical reform of traditional, hierarchical models of social order. By the early twentieth century, the term “progressive” had acquired an overtly political connotation, describing viewpoints that sought to improve society through reform and make it more just and equitable, particularly for members of the working class and historically excluded population groups, such as women and racially marginalized groups. In the United States, the political landscape spanning the late 1890s until the beginning of the 1920s is often called the Progressive Era and was marked by efforts to address widespread government corruption, place effective checks and balances on the power and influence of corporations and their interests, and improve living and working conditions for blue-collar individuals and their families.

Over the course of the twentieth century, the term “progressive” came to refer more generally to liberal political movements advocating for change. Associated in the United States with the political left wing, progressives played a leading role in the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s. Following the landmark victories enshrined in the Civil Rights Act (1964), progressivism became a shaping force in the US political mainstream during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson’s ambitious Great Society program, introduced in 1965, embraced progressive ideals in seeking to improve education and health care, fight poverty, expand voting rights, and renew neglected and economically depressed urban areas. During the 1970s, progressivism expanded into novel areas, including second-wave feminism, the abortion debate, and the emerging environmentalist movement.

Following a period of hegemonic conservatism, which arose from the economic turmoil of the 1970s and coalesced during the influential 1981–89 presidency of Ronald Reagan, a reconfigured brand of progressivism emerged during the 1990s as a cyclical shift back toward liberalism emerged under Democratic president Bill Clinton. Encompassing a broad spectrum of social and political values and viewpoints, the progressives of the 1990s broadly sought to expand government and increase its active presence in social and economic matters. They also advocated for policies designed to secure middle-class living standards amid a rapid and turbulent shift toward globalization and to address continued patterns of socioeconomic inequality.

For many commentators, the 1990s are retrospectively defined by the significant technological change that occurred over the course of the decade. In 1990, the acclaimed computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee pioneered the launch of an internet-connected browser and server network at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Shortly thereafter, the internet became widely accessible at the household level, and personal computing exploded globally. The democratizing capabilities of the internet rapidly became apparent as internet-using populations quickly gained direct access to a far-ranging set of valuable information and knowledge resources as computer technology continued to proliferate. It was against this backdrop that techno-progressivism began to take shape as an emerging political philosophy.

Techno-progressivist viewpoints began to coalesce around an ideological blueprint built on the principles of democratization, liberation, and individual empowerment. Centering these principles in a framework advocating for transparency and accountability, techno-progressivists became increasingly focused on the ongoing integration of technology with social, political, and economic systems. As internet technologies have continued to quickly advance in the twenty-first century, techno-progressivism has also become engaged with issues revolving around the potential future fusion of technology and human biology.

Overview

"Techno-progressivism” is generally understood to refer to the contextual centering of progressive political ideologies on issues surrounding technology and its ongoing advancement. Multiple progressive viewpoints have direct points of contact with technology, science, and its integration with politics and society. Progressives strongly believe that achieving success is largely beyond an individual’s direct control. Instead, they tend to view success, or lack thereof, as a product of systemic factors that progressives view as favoring certain groups over others. They also broadly believe in expanding the size and operational scope of government to equip it with the necessary tools for correcting what they view as systemic biases. Progressives believe that governments and social institutions need to be dramatically reformed, if not entirely reconstructed, to account for and correct historical injustices related to race, sexual orientation, disability status, and other characteristics.

Techno-progressive viewpoints, therefore, support the use of technology to achieve these goals and build toward what they consider a more balanced, just, and equitable society. For techno-progressives, technology offers unique opportunities to advance and achieve social change, provided it is applied in an ethical and transparent manner and with proper levels of monitoring and citizen control. Techno-progressives vary in their views on how to use technology to achieve these ends, but generally believe that technologies and digital platforms should be designed and developed with the explicit purpose of addressing issues such as racism, discrimination, and systemic bias. As a contemporary example, experts have pointed to a municipal governance model used in the Spanish city of Barcelona, which launched an open-access platform for citizens to take part in budget planning and play a more active role in policy planning and implementation. The Barcelona model also accounted for “digital poverty,” a term used to describe deficiencies in digital literacy caused by a lack of regular internet access and/or the inability to afford personal electronic devices. Executives in Barcelona’s city government proposed supplying people living in digital poverty with free devices, internet access, and digital training.

During the twenty-first century, the term “techno-progressive” has also evolved to include viewpoints advocating for the comprehensive integration of human biology and emerging technology. In this sense, the “progressive” descriptor applies more specifically to technology itself than its potential political applications. According to expert commentators, this use of “techno-progressive” is closely aligned with the concept of transhumanism, which focuses on the ways in which technology can be used to advance and expand the physical and mental capabilities of the human body. In some circles, the terms “techno-progressive” and “transhumanist” have evolved to become closely associated, if not functionally synonymous.

One of transhumanism’s most common critiques posits that the aggressive biological integration of digital and internet-connected technologies may lead to novel social divisions, in which one class of people will be human (lacking technological augmentation) and another will be transhuman (featuring technological augmentation). Commentators have expressed concern that in such a future society, traditional humans will be relegated to lower socioeconomic classes while transhumans will enjoy a privileged and elite status relative to them.

Advocates of a slower and more cautious approach with respect to technological development in general and its implementation in humans and human systems in particular have come to be known as “technoconservatives.” The technoconservative position opposes techno-progressivism as it is used in reference to technological development and integration. It encompasses bioconservatism, which functions as a foil for viewpoints favoring transhumanist values and perspectives.

Bibliography

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