The concensus in social science theory is that there is no such thing. Yet, what is progress but the achieving of goals? Are they saying we have no goals or never achieve them? Perhaps they are saying that the human race has never made any progress---meaning that it has no goals and hence no achieving. Isn't our immense cultural heritage we have accumulated worthwhile?
Their attitude makes no sense. Not only does the human race have a teleological goal of technological attainment enabling population increase but individual mainstream societies have always had their own religious goals. Christianendom's goal has been "the Second Coming" and our secular goals consist of achieving "happiness" by persuing it---such as by accumulating "stuff." (We have sure been making progress there!)
So, progress is not an illusion. The social theorists are wrong just like the Chinese peasants were who belived that "for me to gain, you must lose" and who resisted every effort anyone made to better himself.
charles, http://humanpurpose.simplenet.com