Sociological Imagination

Mills believed that

• sociology was a great tool for
changing the world
• using the sociological imagination
people can be encouraged to expose
and respond to social injustice.
Tips from Mills

• Avoid Existing Sets of Procedures

• Be Clear and Concise
• Observe the Macro and Micro
• Observe Social Structure as well as individual actions
• Look at outside the boundaries
• Always Consider Humanity and History
• Understand Humanity as Historical and Social Actors
• Consider Individuals in Connection with Social Issues—Public is
Personal, Personal is Public
 Erin Brockovich
1. Personal is public, in this context of this movie, how?
2. What motivated Erin to investigate the case of PG&E?
3. How did she gain trust of the Hinkley residents?
4. Why did she not want to give up the case?
Is social media a personal experience?
1. How is it impacting you every day?
2. How does it affect your study habits and work opportunities?
3. How does it shape your relationships?
4. How does it help you identify yourself?
5. How your experience differs from /relates to that of others?
Marriage and social influence
1. Does everyone marry strictly for the fairy tale kind of love?
2. Do they marry because it's what society tells them is right?
3. Do people get married simply because they feel it is "time"?
4. Does everyone get married because their parents arranged it?
5. How central is the ideal of romantic love /love before marriage to
the lives of most Bangladeshi people?
From “The Promise”
• Consider unemployment. When, in a city of 100,000, only one
is unemployed, that is his personal trouble, and for its relief we
properly look to the character of the individual, his skills and
his immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50
million employees, 15 million people are unemployed, that is
an issue, and we may not hope to find its solution within the
range of opportunities open to any one individual. The very
structure of opportunities has collapsed. Both the correct
statement of the problem and the range of possible solutions
require us to consider the economic and political institutions
of the society, and not merely the personal situation and
character of a scatter of individuals.
 Moral insensibility and Rationalization
Mills relates this moral insensibility directly to the
rationalization process. Our acts of cruelty and barbarism
are split from the consciousness of men--both perpetrators
and observers. We perform these acts as part of our role in
formal organizations. We are guided not by individual
consciousness, but by the orders of others. Thus many of our
actions are inhuman, not because of the scale of their
cruelty, but because they are impersonal, efficient. and
performed without any real emotion.
Social crisis = Hijacking of empathy?

• Families of the deceased leaving the bodies

in fear of contracting the virus!

Why this crisis has been created?

Who taught Nazimuddin to apply his sociological imagination?

Mills warns,

“A society dominated by rational social

organization is not based on reason,
intelligence, and good will toward all”.
Source:
Elwell, Frank W. 2013. "C. Wright Mills on the Sociological Imagination," Retrieved August 31, 2013 [use
actual date]http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Essays/Mills3.htm
 Think of an item…
1.Describe the item in detail. What is it called? What does it look like?

2.Analyze the item from a local perspective. How is this item a part of everyday life? How is it
used? How and where is it bought and sold? Who benefits from it? Who is harmed/suffers
because of it? Why does it look the way it does?

3.Analyze the item globally. Does it exist in other countries? If so, in what form? Is it used any
differently there? Does it affect life on the planet in any significant way? Where and how was it
made?

4.Analyze it historically. When did this object come into existence? Why did it appear at this time?
How has the object changed over time? What other aspects of social life have changed as a result
of this item? What will the object be like in the future - will it still exist and in what form?

5.Now think about your item. Do you see how it is part of a much larger context? Do you see how
your experiences have shaped your ownership of that item? This is a sociological imagination.

(adapted from Kaufman's article in Teaching Sociology, Vol. 25, No. 4. Oct., 1997, pp. 309-314)
Biography and History

Individuals needs to understand

that their values and behaviors do
not occur in a vacuum; rather, these
values and behaviors are situated
and consequently influenced by
their particular time and place
To conclude,

• The real analyst of the social world is able to

recognize both the task and promise of the
sociological imagination; she or he
understands how personal biography
intersects with history to inform the social
reality (Kaufman, 1997, p. 313).
Sociological who you are as an
imagination individual is also
asks us to use the way you are
our brains to shaped by your
think differently
about things immediate
and consider surroundings, your
why we do the family, your
things we do. friends, your
country, and the
world as a whole.