Social Imagination

Social Imagination

Relationships between personal troubles of an individual, and the private issues of a society, are the main features of the sociological imagination. The connections between biography, history and society play an important role. The sociological imagination gives a reflective view, of what is happening in the world and explains the relationship of an individual in a society. It adds value to the study of social life by being able to critique taken-for-granted assumptions and asks questions to view these assumptions in a new way. The use of applying the sociological imagination can be seen in the study of everyday life and increases the understanding of an individual's placement in society. A strong indication of this reflexive relationship is demonstrated by exploring the procedure of divorce.

Willis (1999, p20) illustrates that acting reflexively is important in the search for a sociological imagination, adding value to the study of social life by giving a broader view of how the individual relates to society. This relationship can be observed by examining the reflexive connections of biography, history and society in more depth.

By the use of a sociological imagination, the connection between biography and history help to describe how the individual fits into, and structures society. The collaborative process of an individual's personal life and their biography essentially adds to society's foundation.

Outlining how these connections are reflexive helps to show the place of the individual in that society (Willis: 1999, pp20-21). C W Mills devised a set of questions, which Willis (1999: pp 18-25) abbreviated, helping to understand and investigate the reflexive connections between biography, history and society structure. He asked what was happening in society, how was it organized and how this related, in terms of previous patterns in history. He also questioned if the situation was changing, and if so, was there any evidence to support this. He further enquired as to how this change affected society, and what the implications involved were. In order to address the issue from an objective view, he asked whether evidence could be seen in a different way. Incorporating these questions into the study of social life shows how biography and history interrelate to give an unbiased view of societal structure.

Using the sociological imagination is an important tool when studying social life. It enables the sociologist to view the world from outside subjective ideas. Giddens (1997, p3) described this as to “ 'think ourselves away' from the familiar routines of daily life in order to look at them anew.” This is useful as it helps give an objective view to any area that may be studied. As stated previously, the sociological imagination takes into account personal troubles, public issues and the reflexivity of biography, history and society, and thus forms a new consciousness to understand social processes.

Personal experience

According to sociologist C. Wright Mills sociological imagination is personal experiences and personal troubles that are often rooted in specific events that is occurring in the social world outside of one's personal ...