THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION

The Sociological Imagination

The Sociological Imagination

"Paper" Mills The Sociological Imagination "was published in 1959. Mills is famous for his idea of ??the sociological imagination. Sociologists Mills is providing a set of guidelines with which to conduct social analysis." Private problems "and" public affairs "; biography tradition: The key terms that form the basis of the sociological imagination are. The sociological imagination requires us to participate in the study of the biography of an individual, but rather to the biography in the broader context of history and tradition of the society in which the individual lives. Mills suggests that a useful way to understand this "imagination" is the use of "fruitful distinction" between the "personal problems of the environment, on one hand and on the other, "public affairs of the social structure." (Mills 1959: 14) For Mills common misperception by many people is that they perceive their own biographies as merely personal and private. Too often there is a lack of seeing their own biographies as intertwined with each other and with the general public and policy "scenario" of society. Thus, an unemployed person can see that this "problem" of unemployment as a private problem. Clearly it is a private problem, however, for the mills of the person has to recognize who is no stranger to a broader social forces.

For sociologists this means placing Mills what he calls the problems of individuals in context. To Mills this context refers to public affairs of the day. "... The ability ranging from the most impersonal and remote transformations to the most intimate of human -. To see the relations between the two" (Mills 1959: 14 emphasis added) that latter clause I have italicized to emphasize the core of the notion of the sociological imagination Mills, ie "... to see it all." (Mills 1959: 170) To put it another way, the objective of the sociological imagination is to see the "bigger picture" in which individuals live their lives. This is about making what was once opaque is now transparent and clear. Mills provides a formal definition of the sociological imagination when he argues: "The sociological imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its significance for the internal and external career of a variety of individuals." (Mills 1959: 12) Here we go: the sociological imagination is said to allow us to perceive people and major social institutions of society as part of a "seamless web" so to speak. Or to put it another way: to perceive personal problems and public issues as two sides of the same process. Importantly, Mills sees the task of the sociologist as analogous to the crime fiction writer:

"The work of crime fiction ... is the same as the work of all social science worthy of the name: a society to be so lively and understandable and dramatic as the best fiction makes the individual sounds. And work must be done first, see how the individual should be understood in the medium and ...