CHAPTER 1A: INSPIRING THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
09/ 11 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, & THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
LECTURE OBJECTIVES
- Define sociological imagination
- Define agency
- Define structure
- Explain the relationship between all three concepts
SECTION 1: SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
- Sociology is about trying to understand the relationship between
the individual and the societal context in which they live.
- Practice of doing that is called SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION.
- It is a concept coined by C. WRIGHT MILLS.
o He defined it as “we must always be able to connect our
personal issues to the larger public sphere & vice versa
Means that the idea of what is happening for you
individually is impacted by society, and society is
impacted by what happens to you individually.
- An individual facing unemployment might feel defeated, depleted,
and discouraged. That person is likely to look in the mirror and
say, "You didn't work hard enough. You didn't try hard enough…"
You, you, you.
, - Coffee drinking can be seen as a social activity because “going for
coffee” focuses less on the beverage and more on talking with
others.
- A girl tries to lose weight to look desirable according to the
perception of the society.
- A guy gets rejected in an interview and resorts to illegal activities
- We shouldn’t be providing individual explanations to things; what
happens to you is often indicative of what is happening in the
larger public sphere & vice versa.
- Flexing sociological imagination means that what happens to
someone will impact you too (because you are part of the same
society), not “that is Bob’s problem, not mine.”
Practicing sociological imagination does not mean that you excuse
individual behavior, it means that you don’t assume that the reason
for something is always because of individual behavior.
o Not striping someone of their own responsibility and
behavior, it just means that you cannot assume that large
trends in society are because of these individual’s behavior –
there must be something beyond that.
- All sociologists are influenced by C. Wright Mills, but some
conceptualized it differently.
o PETER BERGER argues that one way in which it’s helpful for
people to conceptualize sociological imaginations is by
seeing the strange in familiar.
2
, Means that because we just accept things the way they
are, we allow things to continue the way they are. We
never challenge, we never ask why or why not.
Asking these questions helps us to see those larger
relationships and the larger way that society impacts
us.
o
SECTION 2: AGENCY
- Refers to the fact that individuals have the ability to act, shape,
influence the world around them; ability to choose and act
o Have your own ability to make decisions.
- You are making that decision.
- associated at A-level with "Interactionist" perspectives - "action"
is purposeful, meaningful, behaviour and it reflects the idea that
people always have a choice about how to behave - nothing is
ever fixed in stone (although our choices are influenced by social
structures).
o Choosing a career
o Voting in free elections
o Selecting food off a menu
o Picking a spouse
o Joining a social movement
3
, SECTION 3: STRUCTURE
- Refers to societal explanations; how things beyond the individual
impacts their behavior.
o Can offer both opportunities and constraints for their
behavior.
o Economy, health care, education, religion, criminal justice
system, family.
- Outside of the individual.
- Restrict or open up your options.
- Determine the number of choices you pick from (impacts agency).
- Functionalism and Marxism are usually called Structuralist
perspectives because they believe social structures are the most
important influence on our behaviour - hence it makes sense to
study them. An easy way to think about this view is to see people
as puppets with "society pulling the strings".
SECTION 4: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONCEPTS
4
09/ 11 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, & THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
LECTURE OBJECTIVES
- Define sociological imagination
- Define agency
- Define structure
- Explain the relationship between all three concepts
SECTION 1: SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
- Sociology is about trying to understand the relationship between
the individual and the societal context in which they live.
- Practice of doing that is called SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION.
- It is a concept coined by C. WRIGHT MILLS.
o He defined it as “we must always be able to connect our
personal issues to the larger public sphere & vice versa
Means that the idea of what is happening for you
individually is impacted by society, and society is
impacted by what happens to you individually.
- An individual facing unemployment might feel defeated, depleted,
and discouraged. That person is likely to look in the mirror and
say, "You didn't work hard enough. You didn't try hard enough…"
You, you, you.
, - Coffee drinking can be seen as a social activity because “going for
coffee” focuses less on the beverage and more on talking with
others.
- A girl tries to lose weight to look desirable according to the
perception of the society.
- A guy gets rejected in an interview and resorts to illegal activities
- We shouldn’t be providing individual explanations to things; what
happens to you is often indicative of what is happening in the
larger public sphere & vice versa.
- Flexing sociological imagination means that what happens to
someone will impact you too (because you are part of the same
society), not “that is Bob’s problem, not mine.”
Practicing sociological imagination does not mean that you excuse
individual behavior, it means that you don’t assume that the reason
for something is always because of individual behavior.
o Not striping someone of their own responsibility and
behavior, it just means that you cannot assume that large
trends in society are because of these individual’s behavior –
there must be something beyond that.
- All sociologists are influenced by C. Wright Mills, but some
conceptualized it differently.
o PETER BERGER argues that one way in which it’s helpful for
people to conceptualize sociological imaginations is by
seeing the strange in familiar.
2
, Means that because we just accept things the way they
are, we allow things to continue the way they are. We
never challenge, we never ask why or why not.
Asking these questions helps us to see those larger
relationships and the larger way that society impacts
us.
o
SECTION 2: AGENCY
- Refers to the fact that individuals have the ability to act, shape,
influence the world around them; ability to choose and act
o Have your own ability to make decisions.
- You are making that decision.
- associated at A-level with "Interactionist" perspectives - "action"
is purposeful, meaningful, behaviour and it reflects the idea that
people always have a choice about how to behave - nothing is
ever fixed in stone (although our choices are influenced by social
structures).
o Choosing a career
o Voting in free elections
o Selecting food off a menu
o Picking a spouse
o Joining a social movement
3
, SECTION 3: STRUCTURE
- Refers to societal explanations; how things beyond the individual
impacts their behavior.
o Can offer both opportunities and constraints for their
behavior.
o Economy, health care, education, religion, criminal justice
system, family.
- Outside of the individual.
- Restrict or open up your options.
- Determine the number of choices you pick from (impacts agency).
- Functionalism and Marxism are usually called Structuralist
perspectives because they believe social structures are the most
important influence on our behaviour - hence it makes sense to
study them. An easy way to think about this view is to see people
as puppets with "society pulling the strings".
SECTION 4: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONCEPTS
4
