ABSTRACT In its extended history, social progress has become a metanarrative of the western world, one that has been both extolled and more recently pervasively dismissed. This review examines this history, including efforts to resurrect the concept, both through global research and within social work. Specifically, the advancement of social progress is incorporated as a central rationale of the Grand Challenges for Social Work. The problems inherent in the concept, particularly its nexus with economic inequality, as well as the many documented advances in social progress, form the basis for several implications for the Grand Challenges that are reviewed here. These include the need for a clearer conceptualization and expansion in the challenges to explicitly include quality of life, economic and racial justice, and mental health issues, and a more systematic integration of empirical methods into the initiative itself, such as a monitoring of the success of its 12 challenges. In addition, addressing the Grand Challenges will require the continued development of an array of social work practices aimed at both individual and systemic change.

中文翻译：

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社会进步与经济不平等的联系：对社会工作重大挑战的影响

摘要 在其漫长的历史中，社会进步已成为西方世界的一种元叙事，它既受到赞扬，又在最近被普遍排斥。这篇综述回顾了这段历史，包括通过全球研究和社会工作来复兴这一概念的努力。具体而言，推动社会进步被纳入社会工作大挑战的核心原理。这一概念所固有的问题，尤其是它与经济不平等的关系，以及社会进步的许多有据可查的进步，构成了此处审查的重大挑战的若干含义的基础。其中包括需要对挑战进行更清晰的概念化和扩展，以明确包括生活质量、经济和种族正义以及心理健康问题，以及将实证方法更系统地整合到倡议本身中，例如监测其 12 项挑战的成功与否。此外，应对重大挑战将需要持续发展一系列针对个人和系统变革的社会工作实践。