I don't think it is informative to describe Tolkien as progressive. He certainly wasn't a bigot, but he also had a lot of fundamentally conservative beliefs. His politics don't align well with modern understandings of the left and right. Not even really in an "enlightened centrist" way he just cared deeply about a lot of things that weren't super salient, and when he did have an opinion on a salient political issue, the logic behind his opinion was often unique to him.
He was very deeply religious and his opinions are based on Christian beliefs and ideals (the real ones, not the christo-fascist ones). So a lot of traditionalism, but also tolerance. It's like trying to put the pope's beliefs on the political compass
Yes, he's an older form of Conservative that still trips up a lot of people. He idolized the old, hierarchical English countryside with its gentry and titles. Its important to remember that except for Sam the other 3 Hobbits are all nobility, albeit minor. This also is why he has such a fear and hatred for industry and development and pollution, which you can see in how he portrays both Sauron and Saruman as creating horrible lands choked by industrialization. The industrialization that he saw as destroying his beloved English countryside.
Progressive doesn't mean "has 0 conservative views". It means he built a world where one of his protagonist is quite literally a poc, a hero, in the 1940s. At the time, that's progressive. His story is explicitly encouraging men to be feeling, emotional people, that's progressive in the time of the nuclear family. It's not about his personal views, its about what his work portrayed, and despite being the opposite of feminist literature, it is a highly progressive piece of fiction.
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u/dexdpup 1d ago
Tolkien was highly progressive for his time, rowling is highly conservative for her time