SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION

SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
 C. Wright Mills (1959): American sociologist
• He coined the term sociological imagination.
• Sociological imagination
– The process of linking individual experience with social
institutions and one’s place in history.
– It means the vivid awareness of the relationship between
one’s personal experiences and the wider society.
– It is the ability to connect seemingly impersonal and remote
historical forces to the incidents of an individual’s life.
– It suggests that people look at their own personal problems as
social issues and, in general, try to connect their own
individual experiences with the workings of society.
SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION

SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
 C. Wright Mills (1959): American sociologist
• Sociological imagination
– For example: One’s reaction to being poor and unemployed.
An individual may attribute his/her poverty or inability to find
a job to his personal characteristics rather than the larger
social forces at work such as the poor economy and job
market.
– Individuals who feel this way are trapped due to their narrowed
vision of the problem of unemployment or poor economy.

– Solution: sociological imagination – a quality of mind that

enables one to do the following:
SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION

SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
 C. Wright Mills (1959): American sociologist
• Sociological imagination
– Solution: sociological imagination – a quality of mind that
enables one to do the following:
1. See what is going on in the world and what may be
happening within ourselves.
2. See that society – not our own foibles or failings – is
responsible for many of our problems.
3. See that many of our personal problems can be
transformed into political issues.
4. See the power of society to shape our own individual lives.
5. Define the troubles we endure in terms of historical change.
SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION

SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
 C. Wright Mills (1959): American sociologist
• Sociological imagination
– Solution: sociological imagination – a quality of mind that
enables one to do the following:
6. See the intricate connection between the patterns of our
own lives and the course of world history.
7. Know what this connection means for the kind of men we
are becoming and for the kinds of history-making in which
we might take part.
– In short: sociological imagination is that quality of the mind
essential to grasp the interplay of men and society, of biography
and history, of self and world.
SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION

SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
 C. Wright Mills (1959): American sociologist
• Sociological imagination
– In short: sociological imagination is a way of looking at our
personal experiences in terms of what is going on in the world
around us.