THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
C. WRIGHT MILLS
13. THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Other terms for the Sociological Perspective are the Sociological Eye and the
Sociological Imagination.
Refers to: how to understand the world from a sociological perspective.
A critical tool employed by the sociologist to understand the social world.
"The Sociological Imagination" is a perspective set forth by C. Wright Mills and
contains three main elements or perspectives in analyzing social phenomena:
1. The ability to see "the inter-connection between our personal experiences and the
larger social forces."
It examines the relationship between biography and history.
Identify the connections between yourself and society.
Every society lays out a life for its members to lead.
What would your life be like if you had been born in the U.S. a century
ago? One hundred years ago you would have lived on a farm, producing
the food you consumed, had a life expectancy of forty some years, had little
education, married young with several children, had little formal
education, etc.
This life would be quite different from a person born in an industrial
society
today.
As society changes from an agricultural to an industrial society, our lives
become dramatically altered.
2. The capacity to identify behaviors that are properties of social systems.
The ability to place "personal troubles" in the context of social structure and
see them as "public issues".
(e.g. When only a few people are out of work, we may look to individual
characteristics to explain the lack of a job. But when many cannot find
a job, the structure of opportunities has broken down and
unemployment cannot be understood in terms of personal inadequacy.
Unemployment is a property of the system of opportunities or jobs.
Our high divorce rate (50%) is a product of either a breakdown or
change in society in the institution of marriage rather than a personal
failing.
3. Identify the social forces acting upon persons.
Just as we are in a physical force field subject to invisible physical
forces like gravity, we are also in a social force field exposed to external
social forces that continually modify our behavior. We must learn to
identify the invisible social forces that continually shape our behavior
such as power, authority, peer pressure, culture, social structure, etc.
C. WRIGHT MILLS
13. THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Other terms for the Sociological Perspective are the Sociological Eye and the
Sociological Imagination.
Refers to: how to understand the world from a sociological perspective.
A critical tool employed by the sociologist to understand the social world.
"The Sociological Imagination" is a perspective set forth by C. Wright Mills and
contains three main elements or perspectives in analyzing social phenomena:
1. The ability to see "the inter-connection between our personal experiences and the
larger social forces."
It examines the relationship between biography and history.
Identify the connections between yourself and society.
Every society lays out a life for its members to lead.
What would your life be like if you had been born in the U.S. a century
ago? One hundred years ago you would have lived on a farm, producing
the food you consumed, had a life expectancy of forty some years, had little
education, married young with several children, had little formal
education, etc.
This life would be quite different from a person born in an industrial
society
today.
As society changes from an agricultural to an industrial society, our lives
become dramatically altered.
2. The capacity to identify behaviors that are properties of social systems.
The ability to place "personal troubles" in the context of social structure and
see them as "public issues".
(e.g. When only a few people are out of work, we may look to individual
characteristics to explain the lack of a job. But when many cannot find
a job, the structure of opportunities has broken down and
unemployment cannot be understood in terms of personal inadequacy.
Unemployment is a property of the system of opportunities or jobs.
Our high divorce rate (50%) is a product of either a breakdown or
change in society in the institution of marriage rather than a personal
failing.
3. Identify the social forces acting upon persons.
Just as we are in a physical force field subject to invisible physical
forces like gravity, we are also in a social force field exposed to external
social forces that continually modify our behavior. We must learn to
identify the invisible social forces that continually shape our behavior
such as power, authority, peer pressure, culture, social structure, etc.
