The dissertation project examines the concept of progress and its positioning within and transformation following the historical Enlightenment, specifically by analyzing the relationship between the so-called Dark Enlightenment and the Enlightenment. Drawing on individual primary sources, the project will analyze how an idea of progress was developed during the Enlightenment, linked to concepts such as “reason” and “rationality”, criticized in the 20th century, and politically transformed and used in the 21st-century neo-reactionary movement of the Dark Enlightenment. In particular, critical engagements with the Enlightenment’s concept of progress through early critical theory, postcolonial theories, and accelerationist approaches will help to paint a nuanced picture of the political implications and instrumentalizations of this aspect of Enlightenment thought and to grasp the concept of progress with all its theoretical limitations.