Abstract
The progressive dialectic was initially identified by Karl Marx, and later acted upon by Leon Trotsky. An end point of this dialectic is a classless society, free of ethnic, gender biases. Star Trek takes the Enlightenment to its logical conclusion—namely, that modernity; science; reason can serve as the basis for a peaceful; highly productive; and thriving world. Star Trek is optimistic insofar as arguing that as global society accepts modernity; reason; science (i.e., the progressive dialectic) humans will collectively achieve a higher plane of intelligence; knowledge; and emotional maturity. Star Trek in artistically conveying the progressive dialectic makes the specific argument that if humanity/civilization is to survive/thrive that capitalist values have to be abandoned and neoliberalism has to be replaced.
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Gonzalez, G.A. (2018). The Progressive Dialectic of Star Trek. In: Star Trek and the Politics of Globalism. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95411-0_3
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