Historical Context
The concept of sociological imagination was first coined by C. Wright Mills in1959 as a significant factor of explaining the relevance and importance of sociology in the daily lives of any individual. Through the use of the term, learners of sociology can effectively understand how their personal experiences relate to the society at large. Prior to writing the book, the individual and society as the abstract concepts of society were kept separate. In this case, the experiences of an individual would only be defined or perceived according to his or her previously encountered events. The occurrences in society were not taken into consideration. Therefore, through sociological imagination, a single event in life is perceived through multiple factors of changes in the community. The troubles or joys that a person may endure may be integral to the contradiction of the social institution (Mills, 2000). The sociological imagination brings together the individual and societal abstracts together.
Impact on Discipline
Sociological imagination at the time when it was developed received negative criticism from the society. However, the book serves as one of the most influential writings in the discipline of sociology. The book brought about three significant influences in sociology that include the importance of history in understanding behavior (Mills, 2000). Due to numerous events taking place in the society the reaction of individuals is manipulated in the same way. Mills points out that history takes place so fast that people are unable to learn and conduct themselves in the context of the cherished values (Uprichard, 2012). The concept also significantly affected beliefs on human nature. According to previous notions, human beings were believed to be moral beings that adhered to the dictated norms of the society. This perception has come to change owing to the state of moral stasis where morality can be equivocal. Such notions show that the society continues to experience change and could in fact lead to different types of human behavior.
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Intellectual Tradition
The concept has its roots in classical sociology. Some of the theorists in this case include Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim. These sociologists believed in a multi-paradigmatic aspect of analysis and interpretation of the facts occurring in the social world. The sociological imagination incorporates concepts of functionalism, conflict-centered, symbolic interaction and pragmatism as they relate to social interaction. In each of these four primary classical theories, the structure of the society is clearly defined (Back, 2012). This definition is an important factor in sociological imagination as it describes how various institutions affect the entire society (Mills, 2000). Functionalism, for instance, looks at the various elements of the social structure and how they work as a whole. The norms and institutions found within a given social structure affect the experiences of the members of the community. In light of this, Mills attempts to draw significant references to this form of analysis to merge the individual and society.
Principle Concepts
The sociological imagination has three major concepts including history, biography and social structure. According to Mills, a significant importance is placed on why the society is as it seems, the different ways it is changing and the way it making history in itself as it influences behaviors of the people. The biography component brought an analysis of human nature and the types of people found in the society. This derived experience of an individual would be comparable to the normal behavior in the community (Uprichard, 2012). The concept had a major impact on the social structure attempting to identify the functionality of different institutions, ways they are tied together, those that dominate others and the changes they are experiencing (Mills, 2000). In this case, understanding social structure provides an individual with greater knowledge on the experiences that individuals have to endure. The more complex the changes the more likely the behavior of the people in the given society will present.
Theoretical Argument
The sociology concept points out that the classical way of analyzing behavior and experiences of the social world as what in best in the research of people and society. Mills identifies that every social research should undergo a significant intellectual journey. This process involves the concerns of biography which look into human nature, the issues of history which look to determine the ways in which the structures of society have experienced change and the intersections between the two (Back, 2012). In the latter, the theory asserts that human nature and changes in social structure are complementary elements of understanding various events taking place. This form analysis takes the third-party view of any given behavior irrespective of the point of interest.
Personal Evaluation
The sociological imagination is an important model of analysis the influences and causes of a given behavior. The multi-paradigmatic theory identifies that understanding the society in question and the individual are important elements of providing an appropriate interpretation. The changes in the society such as economical or political outcomes have a major impact on the problems that men and women in the given community are encountering (Mills, 2000). These problems according to Mills are depicted as the intersection or interaction between the two. Depending on the social actions observed, there are multiple interpretations that can be provided. As a result, morality becomes more ambiguous as the society continues to change.
References
Back, L. (2012). Live sociology: social research and its futures. The Sociological Review , 60(S1), 18-39.
Mills, C. W. (2000) The Sociological Imagination (40th Anniversary Ed.) . New York: Oxford University Press.
Uprichard, E. (2012). Being stuck in (live) time: The sticky sociological imagination. The Sociological Review , 60(S1), 124-138.
