What is Sociological Imagination?
Sociological Imagination is the relationship between the stuff that is going on in one single specific person's life (in this case, YOU), and what is going on in the society that that person lives in at the time (in this case, wherever it is you are currently living, and the time being 2009). The sociologist who came up with this concept, C. Wright Mills stated that he felt that a lot of people felt trapped in their lives, because they were only able to see their own specific troubles in their life at work, at their house, or in their neighborhood, but that they were unable to see the connection between these troubles and the way the society that they lived in acted in general. Sort oif like, let's say you lived in England in the 1800's, and you were a horny guy, and you wanted nothing more than to see your wife get naked every so often and do kinky stuff in the bedroom every so often. But she never did, and was always offended when you asked her to hop in the bath tub with you, feeling that it was perverted of you to ask of such a thing. Your reaction normally might be "Ah man, this sucks, my wife is such a grouch, I hate her." but if you go with Sociological Imagination you would instead see it more like "It sucks that the prude and uptight style of society I live in, 1800's England, causes most women to act like my wife, and never hop in the bathtub with their husbands." Do you see the difference? You are noting the relationship between your personal specific life, and the society in which you live.
Sociological imagination?
Sociological imagination refers to C. Wright Mills book "The Sociological Imagination". Reading the first chaper of that will explain it all to you. You can find it here: http://www.lclark.edu/~goldman/socimagin... Basically, we all have a sociological imagination. It just requires development. We have to learn to accept that what may seem like private troubles (i.e. being in debt) are actually part of a larger public issue (i.e. poverty associated with a capitalist economy). Solving the private trouble is treating the symptom of a larger disease that will just keep coming back. "The sociological imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals. It enables him to take into account how individuals, in the welter of their daily experience, often become falsely conscious of their social positions. Within that welter, the framework of modern society is sought, and within that framework the psychologies of a variety of men and women are formulated. By such means the personal uneasiness of individuals is focused upon explicit troubles and the indifference of publics is transformed into involvement with public issues" (Mills 1959). It's a sociological classic and one that I strongly recommend.
How does the sociological imagination helps us to make a connection between people’s personal experiences and larger societal structures. By giving practical examples, explain the connection between people’s personal experiences in larger structures?
Well, take this:If you see one person who just became unemployed - you say bad luck. But if you get to know about tens or hundreds you know that something is going on.What?You look at economy, you look here and there - and connect your dots.And, Bingo!Economic crises is you conclusion, or some industry shutting down - in other words issues with larger structures causing societal problems and difficulties experienced by individuals.Hope it helps!
What is sociological imagination and how does using it help us understand our lives and attempt to make them better?
According to Stephanie Coontz, how does using the sociological imagination help us understanding what is going on with today's families? How might using the sociological imagination affect our understanding of and reaction to the crime committed by Hernando Washington? Please give me suggestion.. thank u, I'm also work on it too.
Sociological imagination paper... HELP!!! PLEASE?
Help please!! I have to write a three page paper on Sociological Imagination... here is the "guide" for the paper.. 1. Write a 3- page paper (about 750 words) on the "sociological imagination" of C. Wright Mills and how you might apply it to your life. You may find the following prompting questions/statements helpful in structuring your paper: a. Define "sociological imagination" in terms that you would use to explain it to a friend or work colleague. b. Imagine that you had to explain what you had learned about in this module to a friend or work colleague who was not convinced that sociology was useful in everyday life. Provide your explanation. c. Think about the problems you have, the characteristics of the life you had growing up, the job and education plans of your life, and your future health outlook d. Consider your age, ethnicity, social class, and anything else that you can see influencing your life.
Sociological imagination and religion!?
CW Mills wrote The Sociolgical Imagination In it he argue that there are three key aspects sociology: 1. the cultural - influenced by anthropology (the study of different societies' ) through whch we realise that basic norms and values and ways of interpreting ourselves and the world are not 'normal or 'natural' but are influenced by our culture and so we need to question everything that we take for granted 2. the historical - even our own society's changes can give us these insights into the cultural construction of our world 3. structural : there are relatively lasting lasting systems of inequality. they are not eternal, they do change, but systems of inequality centreing around class, gender, racism are continuing important aspects of modern societies. 4.. - so we also need to be critical (not necessarily negatively but in terms of constantly questionning what we take for granted,) He himself was especially critical of Functional sociology (Parson's functionalism derived from Durkheim) especially about the way that inequalities of power were being ignored in sociology in the 1950s In other words who were are and the way we are different from each other varies from culture to culture. So this might provide a useful framework to answer your question about what influences your attitudes to religion
What are the benefits sociological imagination?
In a word: empathy. The sociological imagination is a kind of critical thinking that helps you to understand other people. It provides clues to the reason why a given person is under-educated, or unable to secure employment. It promotes analytical thinking and identification with the specifics of another person’s social situation.This is the very definition of empathy.