Sociological Imagination

Introducing the discipline of Sociology

What is sociology

u Sociology is the scientific study of society, often defined as a web of social

relationships.

u Sociologists look for the patterns in social relationships to understand the

structure that emerges from these patterns.

u When you understand that your own behavior is partly determined by the
groups you belong to, you are using your sociological imagination.

u You can benefit from this understanding when you look at how and why you
make certain choices.
 What is sociology
What does it mean to study a society?
Is it the same as living in society?
What is the difference between living in society and systematically
studying society?
Difference between sociology and common sense
The difference is very subtle and therefore that much more
significant
What is Sociology

u Sociology – empirical science

u Look at facts
u Different from how facts are examined by the ordinary person
u Observes, records facts in a disciplined way
u Systematic science – observation made have ot put together in a systematic
way – to give a coherent picture
u Comparative science – sociologists do not end with one particular context –
look at a variety of different societies – we tend to confine ourselves to the
Indian realities – also look at what is happening in other societies – understand
similarities and differences
Commonsense

In everyday life, we look upon the world through our

experiences, our interaction with others in various contexts
Our experience of the world then is personalized, and contextual
We have what can be called a ‘natural attitude’ towards the
world
Taken for granted ness
 A form of consciousness
But as a sociologist, or a person engaged in the study of society, we have to develop what is
known as a form of consciousness

A way of thinking about the world, of suspending the natural attitude towards the values,
customs, beliefs and practices that are integral to our lives
lTo be able to think ourselves away from familiar routines of our daily lives in order to look at
them anew. E.g. from what we eat, how we eat it, who we eat it with tells us a lot about our
value systems and our place in society

l Our activities - structure the world around us and are structured by that social world

Sociology and commonsense - Please watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzZhbhJOqKY

 Individual vs collective
Requires the ability to distance oneself from one’s own location, de-
familiarize the familiar (e.g. caste, family, marriage, village, religion etc)
Focus on understanding the 'other'; moving beyond preconceived notions
Demystify social institutions and practices as well as recognise its malleable
nature
Sociological imagination
The ability to break free from the immediacy of personal circumstances and put things
in the wider context. E.g. Unemployment, divorce (difference between troubles and
issues)
Also termed as the Sociological imagination
The promise of human betterment lies at the heart of this imagination
A way of viewing the world we inhabit
Making connections between biography and history
What is gained by a sociological
imagination
Recognize the rightful place of diversity of ideas, values and
practices in society
Recognize the fraternal nature of human existence
ATTITUDINAL AND INTELLECTUAL SHIFT IN THE WAY WE LOOK
UPON SOCIETY
an understanding of the effects of events on our daily lives

an improved ability to make decisions, rather than just conform

A perspective – Ways of seeing
598 × 466
The Sociological Imagination
Mills claimed that Sociological research has come to be guided more by the
requirements of administrative concerns than by intellectual concerns. It has
become the accumulation of facts for the purpose of facilitating
administrative decisions.
For Mills the difference between effective sociological thought and that which
fails rested upon imagination. The sociological imagination is simply a "quality
of mind" that allows one to grasp "history and biography and the relations
between the two within society.”
To truly fulfill the promise of social science requires us to focus upon substantive
problems, and to relate these problems to structural and historical features
of the sociocultural system.
These features have meanings for individuals, and they profoundly affect the
values, character, and the behavior of the men and women who make up that
sociocultural system.
The Sociological Imagination

The promise of the social sciences is to bring reason to bear on human affairs. To
fulfill this role requires that we "avoid furthering the bureaucratization of
reason and of discourse.”

"What I am suggesting is that by addressing ourselves to issues and to troubles,

and formulating them as problems of social science, we stand the best
chance, I believe the only chance, to make reason democratically relevant to
human affairs in a free society, and so to realize the classic values that
underlie the promise of our studies" (1959: 194).
The Sociological Imagination

Mills set forth his own conception of how a social scientist should undertake the
work. He conveys a sense of what it means to be an intellectual who
concentrates on the social nature of man and who seeks that which is
significant.
1. A good scholar does not split work from life. Both are part of a seriously
accepted unity.
2. A good scholar must keep a file. This file is a compendium of personal,
professional, and intellectual experiences.
3. A good intellectual engages in continual review of thoughts and experiences.
The Sociological Imagination
u 4. A good intellectual may find a truly bad book as intellectually stimulating and
conducive to thinking as a good book.
u 5. There must be an attitude of playfulness toward phrases, words, and ideas. Along
with this attitude one must have a fierce drive to make sense out of the world.
u 6. The imagination is stimulated by assuming a willingness to view the world from
the perspective of others.
u 7. One should not be afraid , in the preliminary stages of speculation, to think in
terms of imaginative extremes
u 8. One should not hesitate to express ideas in language which is as simple and direct
as one can make it. Ideas are affected by the manner of their expression. An
imagination which is encased in deadening language will be a deadened imagination.