Can We Still Talk About Progress?

For decades, the world has viewed itself through the lens of progress. Scientific advances, longer healthy lifespans, and the emergence of a middle class in the Global South have long been seen as signs of an overall improvement in living conditions.

The culmination of this worldview was the fall of the Berlin Wall: everyone believed then that capitalism would prevail for all, bringing with it a new form of democracy. But this certainty has faded in recent years: war has spread widely across Europe, and the middle classes have been sacrificed, driving votes toward the extremes.

However, there is no reason to believe that the desire to progress to provide better food, housing, healthcare, and education has been lost forever. The theme of the opening session of the 2026 Rencontres highlights precisely this persistent uncertainty: the balance can tip quickly, one way or the other, and it is difficult today to assert the existence of a linear path toward a better world.