Sociological imagination is one of the most basic concepts in the discipline of sociology developed in 1959 by C. Wright Mills. While many sociologists have given us insights into this concept, the phrase/term itself is actually coined by C. Wright Mills in his book, Sociological Imagination. Mills says “the sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. That is its task and its promise”. This is a big theme in the sociological imagination, and it is saying that the sociological imagination is our ability as humans to be able to understand where we lie in society, how we affect society, and how society affects us. Then when looking at history, we figure out how we play into
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Although we may have personal issues that we believe affect only us, many of our personal issues are felt by others and are caused by public issues within society. For example: unemployment has been seen as a personal weakness, however, when a sociologist looks from the individual to the society we can see that many people are suffering from unemployment by looking at the high unemployment rates. Since so many people are affected by unemployment, we can look at it as a social problem and not a personal issue. Take another example of a British professor and a rural Chinese farmer. The professor might have fish and chips for dinner at a local pub; this meal clearly has deep roots in British society. The Chinese farmer, however, has a different cultural upbringing. He has been taught that fish is a delicacy for special occasions, and so chooses a rice based dish instead for dinner. Digging deeper, the British professor may have been born in a society where schooling is highly valued and in a family who can afford it. The Chinese farmer on the other hand, may be placed in a society which places most value on looking after family land. They have both been shaped by the experiences of their social
Although we may have personal issues that we believe affect only us, many of our personal issues are felt by others and are caused by public issues within society. For example: unemployment has been seen as a personal weakness, however, when a sociologist looks from the individual to the society we can see that many people are suffering from unemployment by looking at the high unemployment rates. Since so many people are affected by unemployment, we can look at it as a social problem and not a personal issue. Take another example of a British professor and a rural Chinese farmer. The professor might have fish and chips for dinner at a local pub; this meal clearly has deep roots in British society. The Chinese farmer, however, has a different cultural upbringing. He has been taught that fish is a delicacy for special occasions, and so chooses a rice based dish instead for dinner. Digging deeper, the British professor may have been born in a society where schooling is highly valued and in a family who can afford it. The Chinese farmer on the other hand, may be placed in a society which places most value on looking after family land. They have both been shaped by the experiences of their social