Social progressivism

A Progress Flag, based on Daniel Quasar's 2018 design combining elements of the Philadelphia flag and the trans pride flag, and brown and black. The flag is closely associated with social progressivism.

Social progressivism is a political philosophy and a variety of progressivism that places emphasis on the evolution of society's moral values. While closely related to cultural liberalism and coming from that tradition, social progressivism noticeably moves the focus from purely individual choice to collective justice, structural power dynamics, and group representation, seeing societal progress as requiring systemic intervention on behalf of marginalized groups to correct historical or social inequalities. These social correctives may come through public norms, institutional reform, or cultural reeducation. The more active or hands-on role for the government in social progressivism differs from other variants of cultural liberalism, such as the more hands-off cultural libertarianism.

History and definition

While the term "liberal" gained political currency in the early 19th century, the underlying principles of individual liberty and tolerance have roots in the Enlightenment and movements like the Protestant Reformation, which emphasized individual conscience. Economist Emily Chamlee-Wright has written that cultural liberalism is one of the "Four Corners of Liberalism" (the other three being economic, epistemic, and political), describing cultural liberalism as "encourag[ing] us to experiment with different ways of living. It allows us to learn that peaceful coexistence in a pluralistic society is possible. And it helps to ensure that minority communities are considered full-fledged participants in the social order." Chamlee-Wright noted a special interchange between political liberality and cultural progressivism, pointing to Jonathan Rauch's contention that "the legalization of gay marriage would not have happened without free speech, which drove cultural progress. But that cultural progress arguably accelerated change that favored a politically liberal outcome." Particularly in the United States, some scholars have noted that one of the largest differences between the progressivism of the Progressive Era and contemporary U.S. progressivism comes down to cultural politics. Princeton economics professor Thomas C. Leonard described historical progressivism in The American Conservative as being "[a]t a glance, ... not [having] much here for 21st-century progressives to claim kinship with. Today's progressives emphasize racial equality and minority rights, decry U.S. imperialism, shun biological ideas in social science, and have little use for piety or proselytizing."

Application and reception of term

Progress Pride and Trans Pride flags flying on the walls of Cardiff Castle for Pride Month 2025

In the United States, social liberalism describes progress-oriented moral and social values or stances on socio-cultural issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage as opposed to cultural or social conservatism. A social conservative or a social liberal in this sense may hold either more conservative or progressive views on fiscal policy. Cultural progressives may be economically centrist, conservative, or progressive. For instance, the Czech Pirate Party is classified as a culturally progressive party, and it calls itself "economically centrist and socially liberal."

The phrase "social justice warrior" originated in the late 20th century as a neutral or positive term for people engaged in social progressive activism. In 2011, when the term first appeared on Twitter, it changed from a primarily positive term to having a negative connotation. Social justice warrior or SJW is a generally pejorative term mostly used for an individual who promotes socially progressive views, especially regarding cultural topics.

According to The Economist, as the term woke and the #Staywoke hashtag began to spread online, the term "began to signify a progressive outlook on a host of issues as well as on race". By 2019, opponents of progressive social movements were using the term mockingly or sarcastically, implying that "wokeness" was an insincere form of performative activism. A 2025 study in Research & Politics found general agreement among members of the U.S. Democratic and Republican parties about what broadly constitutes “woke,” associating it with progressive positions on race and gender. However, Democrats associated the term with a larger range of racially and gender-progressive positions, while Republicans associated it more strongly with positions that they perceive as Democratic beliefs. Writer and activist Chloé Valdary has expressed concern about the association of "woke" with social progressivism as a "double-edged sword" which "alert[s]...systemic injustice" while simultaneously being "an aggressive, performative take on progressive politics".

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Also known as cultural progressivism or identity liberalism.

References

  1. ↑ Friesen, Isaac (2025). "A progressive transformation: rising cultural progressivism across the religious spectrum in Canada". Journal of Contemporary Religion. 40 (1): 87–105.
  2. ↑ Geoff Haddock (26 September 2022). "How Similar Are "Progressives" and "Traditional Liberals"?". Psychology Today.
  3. ↑ Nancy L. Cohen, ed. (2012). Delirium: The Politics of Sex in America. Catapult. ISBN 9781619020962. When the going got tough, the economic progressives got going back to the Reagan days when the cultural progressives were to blame. Clinton's presidential campaign had "signaled cultural moderation and articulated the pocketbook frustrations of ordinary people," Robert Kuttner, editor of The American Prospect ventured. "But in office, he seemed a cultural liberal who failed to produce on economics."
  4. ↑ Eric Alterman (7 April 2012). "Cultural Liberalism Is Not Enough". New York Times. The United States has undoubtedly become a fairer, more open and less oppressive society thanks largely to the political and cultural struggles waged by liberals during the past half century. The progress in securing basic human and civil rights for women, African-Americans, gay men and lesbians, immigrants and their children, Americans with disabilities and so many others is a testament to liberal courage in the face of adversity and oppression.
  5. ↑ Geoff Haddock (26 September 2022). "How Similar Are "Progressives" and "Traditional Liberals"?". Psychology Today. The rise of [social] progressivism (i.e., identity liberalism) is an era-defining shift within the political left. Until recently, left-wing ideology had been dominated by traditional liberalism, which advocates for equality through persuasion and consensus-building across voting blocs. More recently, progressivism has challenged this view, emphasizing political activism within, for example, racial and cultural identities. Differences between these factions have played out across social media (e.g., "cancel culture"), academics (e.g., "de-platforming" campus speakers), and electoral politics (e.g., "Establishment Democrats" vs. "The Squad" in the U.S. Congress).
  6. ↑ Geoff Haddock (26 September 2022). "How Similar Are "Progressives" and "Traditional Liberals"?". Psychology Today. A sample of American respondents found that advocates for "Mandated Diversity" were relatively agreeable but motivated to present themselves in an unrealistically positive light. Those who manifested "Cultural Appropriation Concerns" were associated with a preference for avoiding those with different values. Advocates for "Public Censure" were associated with a feeling of having a privileged understanding of the political right and a more negative view of oneself. Conversely, those who advocated "Recourse to Existing Institutions" placed less emphasis on individuating moral beliefs and more emphasis on communal morality. Subsequent work examined other potential differences between progressive and traditional liberals. For example, in one study conducted in the U.K., the researchers had progressive and traditional liberal participants generate prototypical images of a political ingroup and outgroup member and found that progressives generated particularly positive images of political ingroup members and particularly negative images of political outgroup members.
  7. ↑ Boaz, David (December 2, 2025). "Libertarianism - Definition, Philosophy, Examples, History, & Facts". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  8. ↑ Ball, Terence; Dagger, Richard (1990). "The "L-Word": A Short History of Liberalism". Political Science Teacher. 3 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1017/s089608280000088x. ISSN 0896-0828.
  9. ↑ Emily Chamlee-Wright (January 31, 2022). "The Four Corners of Liberalism: Mapping Out a Common Ground". The Archbridge Institute. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
  10. ↑ Thomas C., Leonard (29 September 2016). "'The Dark Heart of Progressivism' by Matthew Harwood (Interview with Princeton economics professor)". The American Conservative. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  11. ↑ Chideya, Farai (2004). "The Red and the Blue: A Divided America". Trust: Reaching the 100 Million Missing Voters and Other Selected Essays. Soft Skull Press. pp. 33–46. ISBN 9781932360264.
  12. ↑ Slawek Blitch. "Finally, a health dose of anti-establishment". politicalcritique.org.
  13. ↑ "Piráti chtějí vést liberální politický střed a v květnu získat 20 procent, zaznělo na fóru v Táboře" (in Czech). ČT24. 19 January 2019.
  14. ↑ Ohlheiser, Abby (October 7, 2015). "Why 'social justice warrior,' a Gamergate insult, is now a dictionary entry". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 26, 2017.
  15. ↑ Ohlheiser, Abby (October 7, 2015). "Why 'social justice warrior,' a Gamergate insult, is now a dictionary entry". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 26, 2017.
  16. ↑ Stack, Liam (August 15, 2017). "Alt-Right, Alt-Left, Antifa: A Glossary of Extremist Language". The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Social Justice Warrior". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  18. ↑ Massanari, Adrienne L.; Chess, Shira (4 July 2018). "Attack of the 50-foot social justice warrior: the discursive construction of SJW memes as the monstrous feminine" (PDF). Feminist Media Studies. 18 (4): 525–542. doi:10.1080/14680777.2018.1447333. ISSN 1468-0777. S2CID 149070172 – via Taylor & Francis Online.
  19. ↑ "How has the meaning of the word 'woke' evolved?". The Economist explains. The Economist. July 30, 2021. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  20. ↑ Poole, Steven (December 25, 2019). "From woke to gammon: buzzwords by the people who coined them". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  21. ↑ Romano, Aja (9 October 2020). "A history of 'wokeness'". Vox. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  22. ↑ Butterworth, Benjamin (January 21, 2021). "What does 'woke' actually mean, and why are some people so angry about it?". inews.co.uk. Archived from the original on March 28, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  23. ↑ Smith, Allan; Kapur, Sahil (May 2, 2021). "Republicans are crusading against 'woke'". NBC News. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  24. ↑ VanDreew, Benjamin M.; Phillips, Joseph B.; Munis, B. Kal; Goidel, Spencer (2025). "What's woke? Ordinary Americans' understandings of wokeness". Research & Politics. 12 (2). doi:10.1177/20531680251335650.
  25. ↑ Romano, Aja (9 October 2020). "A history of 'wokeness'". Vox. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2023.