Sociological Imagination Sociology
Paige Kanipe
Dunkleman
Soc 210
August 30, 2016
Assignment 1
C. Wright Mills created the Sociological Imagination which is a major part of sociology. The Sociological Imagination is the idea that people are shaped by their environments and that the environment a person is in affects their actions. At the time it was created the Sociological Imagination was much different than anything else in the field, and its impact on the field is huge. C. Wright Mills grew up in rural Texas which gave him the feeling of being out of an outsider in larger cities. Growing up and living in America also had an effect on Mills as he felt homesick when living in europe. Another thing that may have had an effect on his worldview could be the fact he married …show more content…
and remarried quite a few times. Mills published his most influential book, The Sociological Influence, in 1959. The book focuses on how history, biography and social structure affect society and the people that make it up. This book went against what most Sociology was like at the time; it did not focus on statistics, like American Sociology at the time, nor did it focus on identifying the problems, like European Sociology at the time.This book gave Mills the title of “The Father of Modern Sociology”, In the Sociological Imagination there are three main factors: history, biography, and social structure.
History in this context refers to how history shapes a place or society and how history is shaped by a place or society, for example if a country has a history of winning wars the society in that country may believe that they as a country will win all wars, thus making the people act very proud of their country. Another example of this could be The United States’ idea that they are the protectors of democracy because of the history of the country having continually fought for the right to practice government as they …show more content…
wanted.
Biography in this context refers to human nature, the way the people of the society act naturally, and how that affects the society, for example if the people of a society are very rude then the society as a whole could be perceived as rude. Another example of this could be the reputation Canada has of being a very polite and apologetic country because there are a lot of people there who are polite and apologetic.
Social structure in this context is how different social orders function within the society, for example there is the family order, parents over children, or the way American government is set up: Federal is over state is over county is over city.
The social structure of a society can be a very important thing in the society.
Mills’ most important contribution to the field of sociology was the Sociological Imagination seeing as this idea is the foundation of modern sociology . His work set the base for concepts that came after him, and his work influenced civil rights movements after his death. Mills’ believed that the society affects the people within the society which in turn affects the society making it one big cycle of effects.
Applying the Sociological Imagination to a person’s life is easy, take their surrounds and think about how that could affect the person. Take for example a high school student going to a an average high school and compare them to a student going to the early college high school; at first the two may seem very similar, but because of the expeditionary learning method used in the early college a student from there may be more open to doing hands on work or creating something than a student at an average high
school.
Another way to apply the Sociological Imagination is to look at two people from different cultural backgrounds. We can see the effects of different cultures in the differences in Canadian French and normal French, due to years of cultural change the way many Canadians speak French is much different than the way a person in France would speak French.
The Sociological Imagination is the basis for most of modern sociology and it is C. Wright Mills’ most important contribution to the field.
Sources cited
John Brewer on C. Wright Mills. (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2016, from http://www.socialsciencespace.com/2015/03/john-brewer-on-c-wright-mills/
C. Wright Mills. (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Wright_Mills
Dunkleman
Soc 210
August 30, 2016
Assignment 1
C. Wright Mills created the Sociological Imagination which is a major part of sociology. The Sociological Imagination is the idea that people are shaped by their environments and that the environment a person is in affects their actions. At the time it was created the Sociological Imagination was much different than anything else in the field, and its impact on the field is huge. C. Wright Mills grew up in rural Texas which gave him the feeling of being out of an outsider in larger cities. Growing up and living in America also had an effect on Mills as he felt homesick when living in europe. Another thing that may have had an effect on his worldview could be the fact he married …show more content…
and remarried quite a few times. Mills published his most influential book, The Sociological Influence, in 1959. The book focuses on how history, biography and social structure affect society and the people that make it up. This book went against what most Sociology was like at the time; it did not focus on statistics, like American Sociology at the time, nor did it focus on identifying the problems, like European Sociology at the time.This book gave Mills the title of “The Father of Modern Sociology”, In the Sociological Imagination there are three main factors: history, biography, and social structure.
History in this context refers to how history shapes a place or society and how history is shaped by a place or society, for example if a country has a history of winning wars the society in that country may believe that they as a country will win all wars, thus making the people act very proud of their country. Another example of this could be The United States’ idea that they are the protectors of democracy because of the history of the country having continually fought for the right to practice government as they …show more content…
wanted.
Biography in this context refers to human nature, the way the people of the society act naturally, and how that affects the society, for example if the people of a society are very rude then the society as a whole could be perceived as rude. Another example of this could be the reputation Canada has of being a very polite and apologetic country because there are a lot of people there who are polite and apologetic.
Social structure in this context is how different social orders function within the society, for example there is the family order, parents over children, or the way American government is set up: Federal is over state is over county is over city.
The social structure of a society can be a very important thing in the society.
Mills’ most important contribution to the field of sociology was the Sociological Imagination seeing as this idea is the foundation of modern sociology . His work set the base for concepts that came after him, and his work influenced civil rights movements after his death. Mills’ believed that the society affects the people within the society which in turn affects the society making it one big cycle of effects.
Applying the Sociological Imagination to a person’s life is easy, take their surrounds and think about how that could affect the person. Take for example a high school student going to a an average high school and compare them to a student going to the early college high school; at first the two may seem very similar, but because of the expeditionary learning method used in the early college a student from there may be more open to doing hands on work or creating something than a student at an average high
school.
Another way to apply the Sociological Imagination is to look at two people from different cultural backgrounds. We can see the effects of different cultures in the differences in Canadian French and normal French, due to years of cultural change the way many Canadians speak French is much different than the way a person in France would speak French.
The Sociological Imagination is the basis for most of modern sociology and it is C. Wright Mills’ most important contribution to the field.
Sources cited
John Brewer on C. Wright Mills. (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2016, from http://www.socialsciencespace.com/2015/03/john-brewer-on-c-wright-mills/
C. Wright Mills. (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Wright_Mills