Widely regarded as a leading sociologist, Mills authored The Sociological Imagination in 1959. In it, he defines the "sociological imagination" as a way of thinking that "enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society". It's a simple enough concept, and one repeated throughout my SOCY101 course and textbook (and the introductory textbook on my shelf, which is not the same).
The argument is that everyone tends to view the world through their own eyes and interpret the world based on their own common sense and understanding, where what's needed is the ability to think objectively about social structures, social facts, and social relations and to relate these things to the personal biography of ourselves and other individuals. It's common sense, but it needed to be said.
Much of the excerpt appeals to students and fledgling sociologists who may have an interest in the area but don't know how to approach it. Its position as the first reading in the anthology confirms this. Still, Mills' explanation of sociology as a discipline that always seeks to relate the "historical society" to the experience of the individual is worth remembering; too often books or authors concern themselves with one or the other and neglect the relationship between them.
This selection emphasizes Mills' focus on milieux: the personal "troubles" and the social/structural "issues". In addressing and solving personal troubles, he argues, we must assess the social/structural issues. For personal solutions are bound and formed by the broader social structures; troubles cannot be resolved until the issues are resolved. This makes his an applied sociology, and one that I agree with.
Relevance: 4/5 (relevant)
Salience: 3/5 (neutral)
References:
- Marxists - cited in agreement, "An issue, in fact, often involves a crisis in institutional arrangements, and often too it involves what Marxists call 'contradictions' or 'antagonisms'".
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