Understanding the Sociological Imagination: C.W. Mill’s Key Concept

According to Lisa J. McIntyre, C.W. Mill's article “The Promise” was arguably the most famous paper published by a modern sociologist to this day. The core concept of this paper is to explain the concept and relevance of the sociological imagination. According to C.W. Mills, the key to using a sociological imagination is to overlook individual behaviors in order to pan out and see the larger social contexts within a society. C.W. Mills explains that, “The sociological imagination allows 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” (C.W. Mills, 2014, 3). It is implied that through this technique of observation greater sociological comprehension can be achieved. C.W. Mills explains in his paper that the sociological imagination can provide great insights by maintaining focus on both history and biography and their relationship within society (C.W. Mills, 2014, 3).

In order to accurately apply a sociological imagination, Mills states that three kinds of questions must be posed when approaching a sociological issue. Firstly, the structure of a society as a whole as well as its essential components and how they differ from other varieties of social order must be analyzed. Secondly, he states that one must look not only at where the society stands in a historical sense but also at how and why it is changing in addition to how it differs from other periods. Thirdly, Mills states that the varieties of men and woman that currently prevail in the society must be looked into in addition to the ways in which they are selected and/or repressed (C.W. Mills, 2014, 3). These three questions are helpful in successfully viewing issues on a societal level in broad context that provides distance from individual behaviors.

One important point on viewing society with a sociological imagination that C.W. Mills brings to light is that although individuals can make their own choices, those choices are often constricted by societal factors and their social milieu (C.W. Mills, 2014, 1). One example that Mills uses to illustrate this point is marriage. When examining divorce from an individual level, the individuals may be blamed for their own independent issues. However, when viewed from a societal level high divorce rates can indicate more of a structural issue resulting in the divorce (C.W. Mills, 2014, 5). Another example provided by Mills that illustrates the application of the sociological imagination in viewing an issue on a societal level is war. When considered from the point of view of an individual soldier the issue may be to survive and provide for his or her family, but when viewed from a societal and historical standpoint the structural issues of war emerge to show economic and political factors at play and their impacts (C.W. Mills, 2014, 5).

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Mills states that an instrumental point in using a sociological imagination is that in order to "understand the changes of many personal milieux we are required to look beyond them" (C.W. Mills, 2014, 5). He stresses that in order to be conscious of social structures and comprehend them with sensibility one must be able to pick up on the interconnections of massive amounts of milieux (C.W. Mills, 2014, 5). It is in this awareness that the key to the sociological imagination and the enlightenment it can provide is held.

In Article #2, "How History and Sociology Can Help Today's Families" by Stephanie Coontz, the relations between men and women in addition to parents and children are analyzed (McIntyre, 2014, 7). Coontz dives right into using a sociological imagination by stating that, “a historical perspective can help us place our personal relationships into a larger social context" (Stephanie Coontz, 1997, 5). Coontz explains that although seeing the bigger picture when it comes to family dilemmas will not solve the underlying issues, it can help ease the negative emotions that occur within a family by illuminating that the issues occurring are commonalities in society (Stephanie Coontz, 1997, 5).

Coontz purposely analyzes her subjects from a historical and social context to provide structural commonalities in their relationships and the issues that accompany them. Through applying her sociological imagination Stephanie Coontz is able to notice that the common adolescent sense of being in a state of societal limbo is most likely a result of childhood being prolonged by factors such as “dependence on parents and segregation from adult activities (Stephanie Coontz, 1997, 9). By putting this in a historical perspective, Coontz is able to successfully provide narratives on commonly addressed adolescent issues.

Additionally, in Article #4, “Adolescent Humor During Peer Interaction” by Stephanie Coontz and Donna Eder as well as Article #5, “Miscounting Race: Explaining Whites' Misperceptions of Racial Group Size" by Charles A. Gallagher, social topics such as Adolescent Humor and Racial Group Size estimations are tackled with a sociological imagination. In Article #4 Coontz and Eder focus on adolescent humor during peer interaction. Although the study was conducted in a fashion that views adolescents from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, the study seemed to apply a sociological imagination slightly less based upon its methods (Coontz and Eder, 1984, 29). Due largely to the fact that the study was preformed at a single middle school, historical context was largely unable to be applied where it was incorporated in the other articles.

In Article #5, Charles A. Gallagher very effectively uses a sociological imagination to try and answer why whites overestimate the population percentage of minorities. In this article three main narratives are provided to account for the overestimation. Through effectively using a sociological imagination Gallagher states that “exposure to racial minorities in the media, perceptions that blacks make collective demands for racial justice, and the belief that demographic changes had made whites a minority" are responsible for the overestimations (Gallagher, 2003, 39). It becomes clear that the profound insights made in Article 2, 4, and 5 are achieved as a direct result of their author's use of a sociological imagination.

Deeper comprehension and insights of the issues examined in these articles become possible by the use of a sociological imagination. These authors' analyses demonstrate their sociological perspectives by analyzing issues and asking what the particular society's structure is as whole and its fundamental components, where the society sits in a historical context, and what varieties of individuals prevail in the society and why.

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