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Sociological Imagination and C. Wright Mills

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    A person who is able to pull themselves
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    away from a situation mentally and think
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    about different points of view and how
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    items interact is using their
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    sociological imagination.
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    American sociologist, C.
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    Wright Mills created the concept in 1959
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    and defined it as the vivid awareness
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    of the relationship between
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    experience and wider society.
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    It is the ability to look
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    at something with fresh yet critical eyes.
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    Mills created this theory during a time
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    where he felt that sociologists were too
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    concerned with social structures and not
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    looking at the concerns
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    of people in their everyday life.
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    To Mills, his concept of the sociological
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    imagination could bring people together so
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    they could change the concept
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    of a personal challenge like
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    homelessness and make it a public issue.
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    Mills wanted to combine our biographies,
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    our life, with the greater picture of
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    history and see how it is interconnected.
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    When we see the two come together
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    and interact, then we can
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    understand both better.
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    For example, through the concept,
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    one can see how personal barriers or
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    challenges may be connected
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    to larger social issues.
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    A person may be homeless due to bad
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    choices or through a series of events
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    that led them to homelessness.
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    The person may not have been able to stop
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    the train of events that led
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    to the loss of their house or apartment.
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    It was simply unavoidable.
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    For Mills, the personal challenges are
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    the troubles or the biography
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    that an individual faces,
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    while the issue placed before them are
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    the social challenges or the history.
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    Another example is a college student
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    who spends the majority of their time
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    gaming instead of going to class
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    and doing their homework.
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    They are experiencing a personal trouble,
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    especially when they
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    don't pass their classes.
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    However, if we look at statistics,
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    we may find a different picture.
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    After six years at a four-year college,
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    less than 60% of students earn a degree.
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    UCLA noted that 45% of their students
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    earn a bachelor's within four years.
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    So, what are the larger social
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    issues at play with this situation?
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    Has society done all it can to prepare college
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    freshmen for the rigors of college,
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    while also possibly holding
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    down a part-time job?
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    Did the student have
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    money to buy a textbook?
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    Were they experiencing possibly some
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    mental health issues
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    at the time in avoiding classes?
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    The sociological imagination will help us
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    look at the personal and the social
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    issues involved in our lives.
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    That is what that book
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    that Mills wrote sought to do.
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    It wanted to reconcile the concepts
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    of the individual and society.
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    Mills' book challenged numerous
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    sociological theories and viewpoints as he
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    stated that academic sociologist of his
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    time were supporting
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    elitist ideas and attitudes.
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    Although, he experienced pushback
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    with the book,
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    his perspective enabled sociologist
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    to initiate change,
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    instead of just observing injustice
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    and writing about it.
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    Now, how else can his
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    concept help us in life?
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    Think about when you decide
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    to go buy a new pair of shoes.
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    You can use the sociological imagination
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    to assist you with the purchase.
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    Why are you buying the specific
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    type of shoe you're buying?
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    Is it so that you can go running?
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    Why do you go running?
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    Will you keep up with your
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    running habit for very long?
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    Do you want a particular brand because you
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    saw them in a video,
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    on Instagram, on some sort of commercial?
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    Bringing up questions can help us see if
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    there are economic circumstances
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    that we've taken into consideration.
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    They can see if a health study encouraged
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    someone to take up running,
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    or if they were inspired by a movie,
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    or watching a marathon,
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    or simply because a friend has asked them
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    to come running and they're
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    really looking forward to it.
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    Looking at the situation can help us see what
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    is best for us to know and really
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    to help us make the right decision.
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    Finally,
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    Mills said that if a society lacks
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    a sociological imagination,
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    it will tend to be apathetic and possibly
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    accept all beliefs, traditions,
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    and events as unavoidable and natural
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    because people will not see
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    their role within history.
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    People will then be more susceptible
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    to commit acts that could be terrible,
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    and that they will follow society
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    and the pushes of society instead
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    of their own personal morals.
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    The community also will not
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    progress and change when need be.
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    Instead, Mills sought for a society to see
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    what is real so that it could think
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    of other items and so that it
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    could make change when need be.
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    If you have any other questions or
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    comments, write them down below.
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    And always remember to hit that like
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    and subscribe button so that you will
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    find out when we post more videos.
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    Thank you very much for listening.
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    Bye-bye.
Title:
Sociological Imagination and C. Wright Mills
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Team:
BYU Continuing Education
Project:
SOCSC-055
Duration:
05:44

English subtitles

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