Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The term “sociological imagination” comes from a book with that title by American sociologist C. Wright Mills (2000 [1959]) and describes an understanding of one's own position and experiences as reflective of broader social and historical forces. According to Mills, the sociological imagination is more than just a theoretical concept or heuristic device: it is a “promise.” The promise of the sociological imagination is to allow individuals to understand their place in the broader social and historical context. As Mills says in the first sentence of The Sociological Imagination , people today increasingly feel that their private lives are a series of “traps” (p. 3). The promise of the sociological imagination is to understand the nature of these traps and to determine if they are in fact private in nature, or if, as Mills suggests, their actual origin lies with broader social and historical forces. In this regard, the sociological imagination provides a “fruitful distinction” between individual and social problems. Some problems faced by individuals simply reflect those which threaten individually held values or lifestyles, and are problems whose origin and resolution, according to Mills, lie in the personal sphere (p. 8). Other problems, however, reflect broader social or public issues. While the individual may experience these problems subjectively or first hand, the sociological ... log in or subscribe to read full text