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Sociological imagination summary
The sociological imagination chapter 1
The sociological imagination chapter 1
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But at the same time, it's important to realize in "the Sociological Imagination," by C. Wright Mills. Mills would not have agreed with the approach of Hochschild looking at a problem from an emotional viewpoint. Mills wrote in his book that an underlying sense of being trapped is not seemingly an impersonal issue. When people view their lives through this narrow viewpoint, it can cause them to feel powerless. Basically, because their visions of things were limited by their immediate surroundings, they could not see the big picture. Such as, many people are losing their jobs. and not because of one person's actions, but because of an economic downfall in their community. Mills thought sociology or behavior scientist need to think or focus
on issues on a society level. Meaning they should search questions for society as a whole and human behaviors within this geographical area or the government's role in the problem to locate a solution. Therefore, according to Mills Theory, Hochschild's was not giving the full and true story of the whole society in Louisiana. In the Sociological Imagination, Mills points out “Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.” and how seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces may be linked to incidents taking place in an individual’s life. This implies that people may look at their own personal problems as social issues and connect their own individual experiences with the workings of society but blame them self or think single individuals are causing their problems. The sociological imagination enables people to distinguish between personal troubles and public issues. For example, if you look at the individuals who felt like they were victims of the "line cutters." Hochschild stated this person she was talking to indicated that these "line cutters" were the reason they could not get up to the top of the hill, so they had a biased feeling towards these individuals. Mills would approach the study under the conditions, link their personal conditions to the social forces that are relevant to the society they live in. This same person would feel the government has caused this issue and has turned their back on all of them, including the "line cutter." Thus, if they work together, they can come up with a solution or force the government to fix the problem for all Louisianans.
One of the sociological theories is conflict theory. The conflict theory deals with people's level on wealth, or class. The conflict theory says that social change is beneficial, contrary to focuses on social order. In the story of the woman and her children, the conflict theory plays a big role on the situation. Police of higher class are threatening the homeless woman. The conflict theory is a constant struggle of people of higher class over powering people of lower class, or the weaker. The police are trying to over power the woman by telling her to leave. Even though the woman and her children were doing nothing wrong, the police used their power to tell her to leave. Also the people of the area showed their conflict theory by telling the police officers to come. They must have felt embarrassed to have a woman of such lower class to be around them. They used their power of class to have the woman removed from their community. The woman wants to be there because she has no home and it is a good community to be in, but the people look at it as an embarrassment to them because it makes their area look bad for someone of such lower class to be around them. The conflict theory is unique to all other theories because it separates people into categories determined by their wealth and standards. Their status is the element that categorizes them, weather it is class, race, or gender. The conflict theory do not always use class, race, and gender all at once. In this situation race and gender is not a main issue, although gender could be a reason, but it would fall under the feminist theory. This story is mainly dealing with class. Through all this conflict the woman feels over powered and domina...
Social Imagination as coined by Mills is the idea for one to take a look at other social problems through an unbiased lens. This idea to be able to look at problems in the world and not think of them in a way that is familiar, but yet to make them something new. The main idea of Mills is to take an issue and see it from the fabric of the culture that it originates from. By being able to utilize Social Imagination we can then look into cultural problems and analyze them as Sociologists. Being able to look at an issue, and disregarding our own social norms we can then see it for what is actually is. To your average person looking at social problems you’re going to see them through the idea that everyone has the same values, and morale’s that
Bowles and Gintis also said that the students were passive and could be shaped by the education system and could not shape their own reality. Willis views is far more realistic and accurate, saying that they do have the power to do there own thing and that Bowles and Gintis are far too deterministic. Bowles and Gintis in general are claiming that all cultural activity is geared up to class interest, they is why they are structuralists. Whereas Willis didn’t look into social structure that much so he didn’t neglect religious, patriarchal and ethnic interests.
This all shows how different things in and around us can influence or cause us to behave in a certain manner. Whether it be, domestic violence or another criminal act. The sociological concept allows for blame to be taken away from some individuals, victims and or perpetrators and have it placed on society. This is a good thing as it allows us to look into ourselves, and see where we can be responsible for some of the evils of the world. It forces us to take some of the blame instead of always pointing fingers on the other person. Though not all criminal behavior follow along with this concept, many do, and it is therefore important for everyone to be familiar with it and be able to put it to use.
The Sociological Imagination speaks to the understanding of our own actions being a part of a larger historical and social picture. It encourages us to see what influences we have and what influences society has over our own individual lives, whether our decisions are determined by sociological factors and forces or are entirely in our own control. The sociological imagination enables us to see the relationship between history and biography. It helps us to understand the relationship between personal troubles and public issues, and as well as this, it addresses the three profound questions that C. Wright Mills asked. The three videos given, offer a range of successful and unsuccessful insight and explanations about the sociological
In closing, both works by Berger and Mills make it obvious that the two men share different ideas on how the practice of sociology should be conducted. While some of their ideas may vary, they both share a fundamental point that they are trying to get across that can be applied in any person’s daily life.
Additionally, the inability to resolve what appear to be personal problems grants the individual a sense of feebleness. By introducing the sociological imagination, C. Wright Mills provided the people with a method of building a connection between themselves and the society around them.
For example, if a man were to lose his job at an education institution, he would blame himself because society makes him out to be lazy. If you look at why the man lost his job at a societal point, you may be able to see that the company was not making enough money and needed to make budget cuts. The company may not have had enough money because of the amount of money the government gave them decreased. The government makes budget cuts based on the past, they look at history and see where they lost their money in the past to avoid losing their money in the future. Mills (1959:05) states that “the idea that the individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his period, that he can know his own chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in his circumstances.” Mills quote is saying that an individual’s outcome can be affected by their awareness on their of the society they were raised in. If they focus on how society is affecting their everyday life, they would be able to have a successful outcome. The would have a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages within a society, which may vary based off of your sex, race, and social
Observing people’s sociological interactions can be seen everywhere. From the grocery store to the dorm room, interactions is what drives the fundamentals of being human. Being a fundamental part of human behavior, I decided to observe the interactions that took place within public transportation. Staring off the journey, there was a small metal bench in which only a few people sat. While at the bus stop, there weren’t many social interactions between riders as they kept to themselves. When the bus came, I sat towards the back in order to observe the interactions that took place within the bus during the hour trip to Downtown Napa.
C Wright Mills was one of the most influential sociologists of the 20th century. He was the author of The Sociological Imagination, where he proposed the relationship between a person’s biography and history. He defines sociological imagination as “the awareness of the relationship between a person’s experience and the wider society.” Mills created this phrase to describe how people must possess the ability to see things socially and how things affect and influence them personally, as well as socially, as a whole. He emphasized that change in society exerts direct, profound influence on the people living in that society.
This sociological analysis will define the role of sociological imagination when defining the social conflict of submissive female genders in the modern institution of marriage. Mills’ (1959) theory of sociological imagination defines the broader gender values that affect the submissive role of women as “domestic servants” in the patriarchal household. The “outcome” of gender role inequality is founded on dysfunctional families that cannot work past the conflict between men and women. More so, higher divorce rates are common factors that define why a patriarchal domestic sphere leads to fighting and stress between marital partners. Many women feel disempowered and angry at being seen as a “domestic servant” in their daily lives due to these
...roblems. On the other hand, the humanistic approach, introduced by Abraham Maslow, states that individuals have the freedom and capacity to direct his or her own future. Although it is a theory, it is apparant that the psychoanalytic approach is accepted in our society through observations of our speech and procedures of our criminal justice system. As a result, it is conclusive that it is more instrumental in the treatment of mental disorders.
Sociological Imagination vs. Common Sense This essay will aim to explain the differences between the sociological imagination and common sense. What the sociological imagination and common sense are and how they are at work in our society today. Using the area of educational achievement I will bring into this essay examples through research and findings from sociologists such as Pierre Bourdieu, Culture Capital (1977), Bernstein (1961)speech patterns’ and Paul Willis (1977)learning to labour, and use these examples as evidence to show how these would explain educational achievement in relation to the sociological imagination and common sense assumptions. I shall begin this essay by discussing where the sociological imagination arose from and what this is in comparison to common sense.
The imagination is a wonderful escapism that allows one to deal with reality in another form.
Every great invention, business, book, or song has all had on thing in common. They share the fact that they were founded on a successful idea that first started out in the imagination of a certain individual. Obviously it’s not just seeing the idea that makes someone successful, it’s how they go about turning their thoughts into reality, which can take a lot of hard work and planning to finally reach ones ultimate goal. Imagination is a constant companion throughout that journey to success, it’s a key aspect in this ever-changing world to find new and innovative ways to improve ones ideas, and problem solving along the way.