Progress and Regression

A landmark work of social and political philosophy that finds this leading heir to the Frankfurt School at the height of her powers.

Despite widespread technological innovation, scientific and medical breakthroughs, and strides toward gender and racial equity, few believe that humanity is on the road of progress. Indeed, many are increasingly skeptical of the very notion of progress, seeing it as the stuff of hollow political speeches.

Nevertheless, this impassioned book argues that we are lost without a shared idea of progress. In the tradition of critical theory, Rahel Jaeggi defends a vision of progress that avoids Eurocentric and teleological distortions. Progress here is not an inevitable developmental trend but a kind of compass directing society’s never-ending journey toward emancipation. A nimble practitioner of dialectical reasoning, Jaeggi revitalizes progress by confronting its opposite: regression. Her analysis—sober and thoughtful, but urgent—reckons with the myriad signs of regression today, including growing inequality, ecological destruction, and above all the assault on educational institutions, critical thinking, and reason itself.

The task of imagining a human solidarity capable of transcending difference and promoting universal welfare has seldom been more pressing—or more complex. Progress and Regression is an indispensable resource for those ready to take up the challenge.

Winner of Philosophische Buchpreis 2024 (United States)

In this surprising and demanding book, Rahel Jaeggi reframes what we mean by progressive and regressive times in ways that deserve careful consideration. What many tend to call regressive, she argues, is the sudden exposure of the fault lines in progress itself. Thus, only a renewed understanding of critique and critical theory can help us to think constructively during times in which Benjamin's Angel of History seems to signal a future of cumulative destruction. A timely and original book, crucial for historical and philosophical thought today. -- Judith Butler
An important book by the preeminent thinker in the German tradition of critical theory today. The book is a primer in how to do critical theory with a view toward action. Offering a rare, conceptual history of progress, this book represents a philosophical mind at the top of its powers, at work on the most important issues of the day. The book should be a main conversation piece for activists as well as theorists. -- Paul North, author of Bizarre-Privileged Items in the Universe
Jaeggi's proposal is wise, a benefit for all those compelled by the current state of affairs to reflect anew on progress and regression. She argues with precision, prudently anticipating and disproving every possible objection. -- Die Zeit
[Jaeggi’s] argument is that progress is not a path to a fixed goal, but rather a form of 'social change' moving away from a problematic status quo. This reversal is theoretically extremely elegant, as it sidesteps fundamental flaws of the old kind of philosophy of history. -- Süddeutsche Zeitung
With this complex yet wonderfully readable book, Rahel Jaeggi addresses the progress fatigue of our time: that while many enjoy the benefits of technological and scientific progress, hardly anyone still hopes for an improvement in social coexistence—for progress in society as a whole. -- Frankfurter Rundschau

Rahel Jaeggi is Professor of Practical Philosophy with an emphasis on Social and Political Philosophy and Director of the Center for Humanities and Social Change at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. She is the author of Critique of Forms of Life, Alienation, and, with Nancy Fraser, Capitalism: A Conversation in Critical Theory. Robert Savage is an award-winning translator of books from German.

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