Progress in the distribution of power: gender relations and women's movements as a source of change

Twentieth-century history—as well as twentieth-century social theory— makes it dubious to try to “read off” positive goal states from the actual record of history. There is little reason to look for long-term developments that led to a better or even an acceptable world with any inherent necessity. At the same time, there is reason to view the historical process as less determined by unchangeable factors and therefore as less predictable than much of nineteenth-century social theory held it to be.