Sociological Imagination and C. Wright Mills

A person who is able to pull themselves

away from a situation mentally and think

about different points of view and how

items interact is using their

sociological imagination.

American sociologist, C.

Wright Mills created the concept in 1959

and defined it as the vivid awareness

of the relationship between

experience and wider society.

It is the ability to look

at something with fresh yet critical eyes.

Mills created this theory during a time

where he felt that sociologists were too

concerned with social structures and not

looking at the concerns

of people in their everyday life.

To Mills, his concept of the sociological

imagination could bring people together so

they could change the concept

of a personal challenge like

homelessness and make it a public issue.

Mills wanted to combine our biographies,

our life, with the greater picture of

history and see how it is interconnected.

When we see the two come together

and interact, then we can

understand both better.

For example, through the concept,

one can see how personal barriers or

challenges may be connected

to larger social issues.

A person may be homeless due to bad

choices or through a series of events

that led them to homelessness.

The person may not have been able to stop

the train of events that led

to the loss of their house or apartment.

It was simply unavoidable.

For Mills, the personal challenges are

the troubles or the biography

that an individual faces,

while the issue placed before them are

the social challenges or the history.

Another example is a college student

who spends the majority of their time

gaming instead of going to class

and doing their homework.

They are experiencing a personal trouble,

especially when they

don't pass their classes.

However, if we look at statistics,

we may find a different picture.

After six years at a four-year college,

less than 60% of students earn a degree.

UCLA noted that 45% of their students

earn a bachelor's within four years.

So, what are the larger social

issues at play with this situation?

Has society done all it can to prepare college

freshmen for the rigors of college,

while also possibly holding

down a part-time job?

Did the student have

money to buy a textbook?

Were they experiencing possibly some

mental health issues

at the time in avoiding classes?

The sociological imagination will help us

look at the personal and the social

issues involved in our lives.

That is what that book

that Mills wrote sought to do.

It wanted to reconcile the concepts

of the individual and society.

Mills' book challenged numerous

sociological theories and viewpoints as he

stated that academic sociologist of his

time were supporting

elitist ideas and attitudes.

Although, he experienced pushback

with the book,

his perspective enabled sociologist

to initiate change,

instead of just observing injustice

and writing about it.

Now, how else can his

concept help us in life?

Think about when you decide

to go buy a new pair of shoes.

You can use the sociological imagination

to assist you with the purchase.

Why are you buying the specific

type of shoe you're buying?

Is it so that you can go running?

Why do you go running?

Will you keep up with your

running habit for very long?

Do you want a particular brand because you

saw them in a video,

on Instagram, on some sort of commercial?

Bringing up questions can help us see if

there are economic circumstances

that we've taken into consideration.

They can see if a health study encouraged

someone to take up running,

or if they were inspired by a movie,

or watching a marathon,

or simply because a friend has asked them

to come running and they're

really looking forward to it.

Looking at the situation can help us see what

is best for us to know and really

to help us make the right decision.

Finally,

Mills said that if a society lacks

a sociological imagination,

it will tend to be apathetic and possibly

accept all beliefs, traditions,

and events as unavoidable and natural

because people will not see

their role within history.

People will then be more susceptible

to commit acts that could be terrible,

and that they will follow society

and the pushes of society instead

of their own personal morals.

The community also will not

progress and change when need be.

Instead, Mills sought for a society to see

what is real so that it could think

of other items and so that it

could make change when need be.

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Bye-bye.