Chapter 1 – Understanding the Sociological Imagination PDF

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SOCIOL 1Z03 (C01- Jessica Braimoh) Chapter 1 – Understanding the Sociological Imagination (Jan 10) What is Sociology?      

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“The systematic study of human groups and their interactions” (Ravelli & Webber) Sociology is a science Thus, sociologists are interesting in exploring the relationship between the individual and the social Term coined by Auguste Comte in 1838 Examining the social world We have the tools to combat poverty and mass hunger but don’t o Inadequate system of distribution o Greed / power “The social arises in people’s activities and through the ongoing and purposeful concerting and coordinating those activities. Social life is not chaotic but is instead organized to happen as it does.” -Dorothy Smith Everything that happens are not accidental; there are social forces and relations that organize our lives to happen in a way that they actually do Role of social forces and social relations Not a uniformed science

Sociological Approaches 

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Positivism o There exists an objective knowable reality (one way of knowing) o Singular explanation (i.e. sociological / psychological / anthropological perspectives come to one objective answer) o Value-free o Often aligned with quantitative methods Anti-positivism o Rejects each of the positivist assumptions (many ways of seeing a phenomenon / individuals have their own bias) o Often aligned with qualitative methods

Sociological Imagination (C.W. Mills)  

The ability to understand the dynamic relationship between individual lives and the larger society (C. Wright Mills, 1959) Private troubles and social issues should be defined o Private troubles are for specific individuals  Agency: ability to make decisions on your own free will  Microsociology:  i.e. unemployment o Social issues are for the whole of society

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Structure: social forces that are beyond an individual’s control due to how society is set-up (i.e. race)  Macrosociology:  i.e. poverty, deskilling due to technology advancement, geographic pattern, economy, discrimination, credentialism EXAMPLE: Post secret o Sending their secrets on a postcard o Separately, each postcard seemed like a micro problem o But trends became obvious when combining them together DQ: Why, according to Mills, are personal troubles difficult for people to see as social issues? o Embarrassment to express o Broader power relations o Quality of mind: one’s ability to look beyond personal circumstance and into social context 

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Seeing the General in the Particular (Berger)  

Trying to move beyond the individual to the big picture o i.e. experiences of divorce Seeing the strange in the familiar o i.e. grading (mastering the MC test) o i.e. using of the elevator (staring towards the doors) o i.e. choice of bathroom stall / urinal

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