State
Sociological imagination is the ability to perceive a phenomenon socially and how various aspects of the phenomenon interacts and influences each another. According to Cole (2014), the concept relates to viewing things from an alternative perspective by being able to think ourselves away and looking things with critical and fresh eyes. Having a vivid awareness of a person’s relationship between the wider society and experience exemplifies sociological imagination. The term is employed in the sociological field to expound on the relationship between nature of sociology and its applicability in human daily life ( Mills, 2000) . People experience sociological imagination by having an outlook on life that differs from the familiar usual daily routines.
It involves having a deep comprehension of how the historical process builds a person’s biography within a larger social context. The concept enables understanding of social outcomes founded on the human daily life. To expand on the given definition, sociological imagination links the things individuals do to situations, values, norms and motives, outcome and the behaviour of people in the surrounding environment ( Cole, 2014 and Pyyhtinen, 2016) . It is the understanding of the interplay of an individual and the social context. Having an alternative point of view entail pulling away from the situation and breaking free from the routine. Sociological imagination paves way for self-aware decisions that are not dependent on social norms or factors that are generally known to dictate outcomes.
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Elaborate
In other words, sociological imagination is the substitution of the usual lenses used by people to view their own lives and altering the perspective to an open and wider landscape of the world. To me, it implies adoption of a framework that surpasses the common notion and the limited social experience. My conceptualization of the concept relates to the ability to make a connection between the larger social context and personal challenges. It means learning to differentiate between social levels and personal experiences which enables making of informed choices that help counter social forces in our own lives ( Levine, 2016) . Using sociological imagination gives one the advantage of knowing how to circumvent social troubles and obstacles that may hinder realization of success ( Dannefer, 2011) . The concept helps people get past challenging situations in the real world thus solving problems that benefit not only the individual self but also the wider society. It also relates to figuring out how to use daily life struggles to make life less stressful and easier ultimately transforming people’s livelihoods.
Exemplify
An example of sociological imagination would be a person experiencing a lengthy period of unemployment. Inability to secure a gainful employment would make such an individual feel discouraged, disillusioned, defeated and depleted. The situation may trigger regrets and self-blame that maybe the person has not tried hard enough or did not work hard in school. However, under the lens of sociological imagination, the individual facing unemployment would desist from blaming themselves and start viewing the situation as a problem facing many others in the society. The understanding that one is not alone in the unemployment challenge arouses some form of comfort that one is not facing the struggle alone but there are also hundreds of others going through frustrations of unemployment. Adoption of a wider landscape that focuses on the entire society provides a form of reprieve and encouragement which eventually enables one to navigate through the problem or make an informed decision that suits them best.
Clarify
It is like when I am done with college education and start seeking formal employment but can only find indecent work that cannot earn me reasonable salary to support my livelihood and invest. Rather than the situation making me depressed and viewing it as a solitary problem I would apply sociological imagination which to enable me have a wider society view of my current predicament. Understanding that the problem has its roots in the society would necessitate formulation of strategies that help me get past the problem and engage in the informal sector to create a business which would benefit not only me but other graduates in the society too.
References
Cole, W. (2014). Introduction to sociology. Sociology , 1010 (002), 002.
Dannefer, D. (2011). Age, the life course, and the sociological imagination: Prospects for theory. In Handbook of aging and the social sciences (pp. 3-16). Academic Press.
Levine, R. F. (2016). Enriching the sociological imagination: How radical sociology changed the discipline (Vol. 1). Routledge.
Mills, C. W. (2000). The sociological imagination . Oxford University Press.
Pyyhtinen, O. (2016). More-than-human sociology: A new sociological imagination . Springer.
