“The Empire's got something better than whips, alright. Obedience. Whips in the soul.” From Interesting Times, by Terry Pratchett.
I find the Discworld novels to be quite progressive, though occasionally critical of the most left of left wing revolutionary idealism. There are so many gems of quotes, about economic unfairness, racial and gender injustice, the propensity of cops to act as soldiers, the treatment of people as things, the stupidity of war. The Discworld has everything we want. Just make the movies already.