The sociological imagination is the ability to look beyond one’s own everyday life as a cause for daily successes and failures and see the entire society in which one lives as potential cause for these things. It is described by C. Wright Mills in 1959 as a enabling “its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals”. Mills goes on to describe people as being “Seldom aware of the intricate connection between the patterns of their own lives and the course of world history, ordinary people do not usually know what this connection means for the kinds of people they are becoming and for the kinds of history-making in which they might take part. They do not possess the quality of mind essential to grasp the interplay of individuals and society, of biography and history, of self and world.”
Having sociological imagination is critical for individual people and societies at large to understand. It is important that people are able to relate the situations in which they live their daily lives to the local, national, and global societal issues that affect them. Without the ability to make these relations, people are unable to see societal issues that affect them and are unable to determine if these issues require change to better their everyday lives.
Throughout history different societies and nations have obtained different levels of social imagination. Some societies have never had it, others have obtained and lost it, while others have obtained it and thrived on it. The societies that have not obtained it or that have lost it are usually within nations that have suffered ongoing persecution, poverty, and social injustice. The societies that have obtained it and thrived on it are usually within the nations with the most freedoms and with the most advanced cultures. This theme is discussed in Linda Schneider and Arnold Silverman’s book Global Sociology: Introducing Five Contemporary Societies Fourth Edition.
The societies that have lacked sociological imagination have experienced ruling regimes as the norm and individuals live within the same humble confines that have plagued them for centuries. These societies have lagged behind what we think of as modern cultures. Industrialization, freedom, and equality are all things that the individuals in these societies lack or are just beginning to obtain. An example of this theme from Global Sociology is found in a discussion of Mexico in the second chapter of the book, the people of Mexico have lived under ever changing regime’s for centuries. From the Mayan and Aztec rulers, to the Spanish rulers, to the corrupt government of today, the people of Mexico have lived under autocratic rulers as poor slaves. The only attempt at social imagination was through a small revolution to gain independence from foreign rule, only to succumb to local government treating the people in the same manner.
This kind of example is echoed through many countries across the world. Egypt suffers from this same lack of social imagination as discussed in chapter four. Their culture, religion, and world view has changed through every religious hand over the last several centuries, again culminating in a revolution that has placed them under their own leader taking advantage of them in the same way as all the previous rulers. The Bushmen of Namibia suffered through numerous outside rulers replacing each other, first Germany, then Great Britain, and finally their own internally corrupt government not leaving the natural resources to the native inhabitants of the country. This is another example discussed in Chapter three of Schneider and Silverman’s book.
Throughout time this has been a common theme and in nations where social imagination has been recognized, individuals have found the root of their problems in the lack of change and governance that they live through every day. In nations where sociological imagination is prevalent such as Japan and the United States of America, social imagination has inspired momentous changes to the culture and to way of life.
This contrasting view is apparent in everyday life in the United States. Men and Women have equal rights, Slavery does not exist, religious freedom is a reality, and the ability for poor people to change their outlook is a reality. This is primarily due to the people of the United States embracing sociological imagination after the countries revolution and recognizing the affects of external forces, such as government, economic models, and global trade.
This opposing theme of sociological imagination is again exampled in Schneider and Silverman’s book in the discussion of Japan during the first chapter. Japan was in a unique position to control its interactions with outside nations through most of its history. This lead to Japan’s ability to consume the cultures, economic models, and political models that it desired from other nations and transform its own culture to thrive with western views.
This is certainly not to say that societies without sociological imagination are bad or will never obtain it. It is to say that there are obvious advantages of understanding the causes of one’s position in the world and what can be done to change that position past personal adjustment.
Works CitedMills, C. Wright The Sociological Imagination, 1959
Schneider, Linda & Silverman, Arnold Global Sociology: Introducing Five Contemporary Societies 4 e. New York: McGraw Hill, 2006
March 27, 2007 at 4:48 am |
Josh, this is an interesting topic, thanks for posting. The question I have is how do we try to create socialogical imagination in a world where national boundaries and resource allocation are so strongly imprinted? The sources you cited portray a dichotemy of societal (approximations of a nations) and global (one human family) contexts. It is truly puzzling trying to figure out how we might be able to stop genocide in Darfur when a (slim) majority of us in the US recently approved a reckless war in Iraq that most of us now want to run away from. At some level we are truly confused and challenged by our visions. The notion of global, human responsibility seems to be extremely difficult to grasp- perhaps because we do not associate primarily with belonging to a global society, but instead belonging to distinct, provincial cultures. Socialogical imagination in the United States was developed through the leadership and amazing vision of people like Thomas Jefferson – a person that owned a large number of slave in his lifetime. The personal freedoms he envisioned and slavery are very difficult to reconcile, regardless of the historical context, which is no excuse for the atrocity of slavery. So what are the keys to change? I don’t know, but I believe that knowledge, awareness and brutal honesty might be the tools. Of course, most of us don’t like brutal honesty very much, which makes it hard to have a real examination of ethics. There are too many brute force instincts getting in the way. I don’t think the human race will be able to make the next step in socialogical imagination until we can get some unity on the personal importance of ethical action.
February 8, 2012 at 11:48 pm |
Skimming through your post it looks like your talking about Sociology’s Conflict Theory.
April 3, 2007 at 1:38 pm |
Nice! One never knows what to expect when plugging “sociological imagination” into a search engine.
April 12, 2007 at 9:25 am |
u need to fix ur page u have things on top another things! cant understand It cant read it who the hell thought u had to do websites!!?? FIX IT NOW!!
June 17, 2007 at 11:37 pm |
you’ve made it.! you are good at it. you did help me.
June 17, 2007 at 11:42 pm |
i realized something by just reading your articles about it. i had read some of Mr. Mills books…..
November 28, 2007 at 3:16 pm |
Hey natalie… learn how to spell, you sound like an idiot, criticizing this article, when you are too illiterate to even spell taught. T_A_U_G_H_T. Taught!
December 29, 2007 at 3:08 am |
I agree with your comments about the sociological imagination offering better understanding of social inequality, and hopefully this better understanding would lead to overcoming the equalities that are still prevalent. However, I would question whether the sociological imagination has in deed overcome gender inequality and cyclical poverty in the United States. Simply giving a person equal rights does not mean that they have equality of life – there are still social structures in place (harder to see than the previous ones) that continue to cause inequality in the opportunities available to women. Also, there may have been changes made to make it easier for a person to climb out of poverty, but this does not mean they have the ability to. If this was the case, why are so many people still living in poverty?
There is still work to be done, but I agree that some countries are certainly better than others and more consideration is needed to combat the negative effects of globalization and the resulting exploitation.
June 7, 2013 at 11:35 am |
I agree Lynne. The degree of inequality and poverty produced by structural elements means that the sociological imagination has not triumphed in the U.S.
January 9, 2008 at 10:12 pm |
Just thought you might want to know – your blog was cited as a reference to a discussion question in an online sociology class for Wenatchee Valley College.
I was intrigued to be led to this post because of your references to Egypt. I spent some time there last year. I think it is inaccurate to characterize the society as a whole as being incapable of Sociological Imagination. I certainly met individuals there who very much understood the impact of history and world events in influencing their lives.
Furthermore, you state that in the United States “Men and Women have equal rights, Slavery does not exist, religious freedom is a reality, and the ability for poor people to change their outlook is a reality. ”
Try reading Kevin Bales book “Disposable People” about the new slavery that is alive and well TODAY or check current statistics on wage gap between men and women for same work before you paint such a glowing picture.
We have PLENTY of people in the USA who are clueless when it comes to Sociological Imagination. We also have some that get it. While I would agree that there is some merit in recognizing that certain cultures in general foster or limit SI to varying degrees, I think the sweeping statements you make without evidence just contributes to more stereotype.
August 10, 2008 at 6:03 pm |
I have to write a paper on the Sociological Imagination. My direction are to think of some kind of trouble,or issue that I see in the world today then describe what a sociological imagination might help us to understand about the trouble or issue.I have had a hard time with this class and I am wondering if someone could point me in some direction?
September 3, 2008 at 5:17 am |
the article is eye opening keep it up
October 23, 2008 at 4:18 am |
What is important to know is that there is a historical dimension to the act of drinking coffee.The Sociological Imagination gives us “new perspectives on what social beings do and why they do it”.
November 10, 2008 at 10:09 am |
excellent piece.
November 10, 2008 at 10:17 am |
Thank you all for your comments, I am glad that you have cited my work or otherwise enjoy the piece. Please keep the questions and feedback coming.
November 12, 2008 at 12:00 am |
VERY nicely done! Thanks for sharing :)
December 20, 2008 at 6:35 am |
For Sociaology imgination everybody should think and start to
betterment of mankind in the world, verynice concept for the
socioligy aspect
January 14, 2009 at 8:03 am |
sir, do you think that Sociological Imagination explains the current economic crisis ?
January 15, 2009 at 9:25 pm |
Nope, I don’t think that it could. I do think that a better examination of history could have prevented the situation. Too many products were created and rated as low risk or sold without their risk being rated based on assumptions that were untested and not based on historical truths that have always proven true.
I am not saying that you can judge future performance based on past activities, but it is possible to know that everytime a new product is created that artificially inflates the value of anything, it creates a bubble that pops.
April 18, 2009 at 2:15 pm |
I needed to do a small report on sociological imagination. After reading just the first paragraph, it gave me an understanding of it right away. Thanks for the article.
April 30, 2009 at 2:14 am |
I beg to differ with the answer that sociological imagination had nothing to do with the current global crisis. I want to believe that it has – in my view the pressure for human beings to become capitalist and grab the possessions they cannot afford has driven us to this mess. The first world has propagated the culture of owning more and more without taking care of the crumbling boundaries that are necessary to curb increased spending. Perhaps it would be beneficial to link this to Marx’s theories.
June 25, 2009 at 7:10 pm |
you’re concept was really good it help me widen my knowledge regarding about the said topic. our teacher ask us to do a reaction paper regarding sociological imagination by wright mills , thanks to you i did it well.
October 26, 2009 at 3:36 pm |
Excellent piece. i am currently reading mills work and am a little thrown off by the tone of his work. I am unsure whether it is fair to say that the sociological imagination is a relevant factor in the progression of all societies. Mills work , as far as im aware is based upon Western , predominantly American society. (please correct me if im wrong, as i have only just started studying Mills work) If this is the case could it be seen that other societies have progressed to similar levels as say the US, as a result of a different pheonomena. For example, in light of the nature of the sociological imagination, could you say that perhaps individuals in today’s developing societies now not only take on biography and history but also as a result of factors such as globalization, are perhaps forced into adopting a western and particularly American/European way of life? So perhaps the sociological imagination of today isn’t one of purely concious activity, is there now a style of society that developing nations are adopting purely because of an ever more ‘global economy’? So in essence, people are aware of the the relaionship between individual and society, but in effect can have very little say , or involvment?
October 27, 2009 at 6:51 am |
Interesting point Jack, I appreciate you bringing them here as I hadn’t thought of this previously…
I don’t think that having Sociological Imagination necessitates having a say or involvement in shaping things beyond oneself; however, it does mean that an awareness of the influences is present and therefore an opportunity to change ones own actions is present.
In many eastern societies, this capability existed far before the western ones, there are many advances eastern cultures had well before the west was, well – “the west”.
In reference to current developing countries – I definitely think that western culture has an influence. Look at developing African countries where western influence is working to spawn entrepreneurealism through microfinance. These are definitely ideas that are beyond easy recognition of the masses there. Time will tell if these are a positive or negative impact, but they are definitely a forced sociological imagination.
November 12, 2009 at 10:47 pm |
Social understanding and the responsibility for our children and preparing our youth as a whole and realizing the capability, for growth within the community. How will we influence each other ? Influence continues into motivation, and then this manifests action, what motivates the next generation towards intelligent, positive goals? How will we manipulate tomorrows youth based on relating interests and how do we develope techniques to properly teach. This is where I would incorporate social imagination. Imagination is limitless, an example would be to consider the sub conscious mind as an inspiring method….
November 13, 2009 at 8:15 pm |
I love the ability to use imagination to conquer… for instance can you imagine to distinguish the problem causing youth, like the media’s influence whether it be positive or negative as an influence in our society. It even eliminates religious beliefs where I believe was a way for people/ society to function and believe in to function normally in a social manner where it gave people something to believe in. Now as evolution transpires we look to other inspirations for our social back bone where as I repeated once before in my previous comment, motivation what motivates certain areas of our society, how can we manipulate these areas and why are certain communities excel. I had a great idea, what if we used entertainment as a way to influence our youth. Here is where i had realized how this works however in a negative way in the past. If you would like to discover this idea pls respond I believe it is too big to jot down at this moment.
November 14, 2009 at 12:04 am |
Yes, teaching the kids is definitely the hardest part. Part of that problem is that the world views of different people are… well, different. These influences of different world views mean that the teaching of sociological imagination can be skewed by those world views. Racism for example can be taught along with sociological immagination and although the student will learn to be aware of class and structure, they may also be given a false perpective on how to navigate that structure.
September 30, 2011 at 4:25 pm |
Nice work….very intriguing!!!!
February 4, 2010 at 2:56 am |
thanks for this very good passege. why do you base this passege in societies only, dnt you think you should even put it in a way based on humans socisl imagination, and pleas put the aspects of sociological imagination
February 9, 2010 at 12:54 pm |
dats one of the greatest man. wish everyone was born with the sociological mind o imagination. keep it hope theirs lotg of people who’ll gain some open mind sociological
May 11, 2010 at 10:28 am |
This piece of work is beautiful and applies to all societies including the developing societies.wish everybody can red it
May 16, 2010 at 12:58 am |
Josh, i am veru happy to see your post. I teach sociology in a college in India. I request you to post some latest literature on Globalization ,if you can.THNX.
June 15, 2010 at 11:30 pm |
Many thanks for your wonderful wakeboarding techniques!
July 7, 2010 at 2:41 am |
Thanks Josh and other contributors for beautiful portray on Sociological Imagination. I am more interested in knowing adaptation of Sociological Imagination to the grassroots life, so that we can at least understand how will we be able to see positive change and motivations for a better world. Thank You.
September 18, 2010 at 8:05 pm |
great work…keep it up!!!!!…it helped me alot
September 19, 2010 at 12:45 pm |
I think sometimes that we lose focus to the subject of the sociological imagination from time to time. We are desperate to solve all the problems in the world by the ideology of this dynamic and very amazing work by Mills, which of course is essential for the continuation of evolution in societies worldwide.
It is mentioned that the “lack” of sociological imagination in some countries mentioned is the reason they are in such social and economic deprivation. In fact we know that regimes use their political might to keep their countries in a position where they can control and exploit the people. People in these countries possess the sociological imagination as well as we do, they just can’t implement it because of bureaucracy and/or suppression. What is the answer? I don’t know, it must be my “lack” of sociological imagination.
September 21, 2010 at 10:09 am |
Thanks Josh for publishing this, it has really helped me complete my assignment on sociological imagination which has proven a little difficult. Although I don’t really understand the concept maybe because it is not easily comprehensible for the beginner in sociology like me, but I know with time I will comprehend more than I just did.
October 2, 2010 at 1:25 am |
Thank you for this blog. It is very helpful.
October 2, 2010 at 1:26 am |
Can you please recommend other internet sites to acquire more information on Sociological Imagination? Mahalo!
January 27, 2011 at 10:56 am |
You might be surprised to know how many times this URL pops up in the reference section of my students’ sociological imagination essays.
March 9, 2011 at 6:18 am |
hey Josh.i have learnt alot from your ariticle and has definitly helped me alot with my sociological imagination assighment.I never realised hoe the western society has influenced the way we do things in my country,some an advantage some just made things worse,but at the end of the day its the individual choice that realy counts.
Thanks mwah
April 3, 2011 at 12:42 am |
Realistically, there is no such thing as EQUALITY. This word is a product of human’s creative language and abstraction. If everyone would be equal, then people would no longer be motivated to improve his life or Josh Maher wouldn’t say that USA is far better than Mexico and/or other countries that lack sociological imagination. Yes, I do agree with one saying that everyone has this sociological imagination but having this does not guarantee that one immediately acts out what he/she imagined/thought. If this is the cause of daily successes, remember that we all have a relative view of what success really is in which, if every one has and act out this, then for sure conflict would really rise. Yes, USA do have sociological imagination which might be the reason of what it is now but I think, it is because of this that countries once subjugated by USA have been left far behind- Our dear Philippines is an example of this. Spain, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and Japan had abused, molested, and raped Philippines because of materializing and putting this sociological imagination to reality. Presently, Filipinos have been suffering ongoing persecution, poverty, and social injustices. It is of no doubt that Philippines is in a looming situation and I would say this is the result of its history of subjugation as the subjugated.
October 1, 2011 at 8:38 am |
this web site isa very usefull and very cool they must have more websites like this.
November 17, 2011 at 4:03 am |
what is the importance of sociological imagination to one’s future career??
November 23, 2011 at 8:21 pm |
Yeah..They tried much on making analysis and giving vivid Examples like that of Japan And The USA,But they always insists on Cultural Changes,and have talked not about the concequences of Social Imaginations taking Congo and Cote te de Vo’ire as a case study and show how the western powers Interupt Peoples imaginations by Implanting Their puppete Leaders while Killing Their Heroes Muammar being the core Study?
September 26, 2012 at 11:25 am |
me like what is fabule
October 7, 2012 at 11:24 pm |
I can’t thank you enough for writing such a wonderful article. It is thoroughly engaging and so informative. Keep them coming
October 10, 2012 at 9:24 pm |
Actually, this is an extremely WRONG understanding of what the sociological imagination is. You are not only ethnocentric in your comprehension of other societies and cultures, but you are making grand sweeping statements to conceptualize entire societies and all of the people living in them.
Perhaps you should read about the current world market and forced trade liberalization on ‘developing’ countries. It is not because they lack a sociological imagination that they are unable to ‘develop’, it is precisely the western powers (The US and Japan, the so called countries that possess a sociological imagination) who are creating unfair policies with the intention, as some argue, to keep developing countries from ever gaining economic power. For the point of this comment I have dramatically simplified neoliberalism.
I would even go so far as to argue that those who live in ‘developed’ countries lack more of a sociological imagination as those who do not.
I could go on forever. Those of you who are new to sociology, please do not use this blog for reference. Find an academic article or ask someone who actually knows what they are talking about.
Just a piece of advice that you should take.
October 21, 2012 at 12:18 pm |
sorry i have an essay to do for university, the question is what are the benefits to be gained from the development a sociological imagination? i was wondering if you can give me some views of what you think. thank you
October 27, 2012 at 2:29 pm |
Hey there! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured I’d ask.
Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest authoring a
blog post or vice-versa? My site addresses a lot of the same topics as yours
and I think we could greatly benefit from each other.
If you are interested feel free to send me an e-mail.
I look forward to hearing from you! Terrific
blog by the way!
January 6, 2013 at 5:03 pm |
Appreciating the time and effort you put into your site and
detailed information you provide. It’s good to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same
old rehashed material.
February 4, 2013 at 10:32 am |
Good replies in return of this difficulty with real
arguments and describing everything about that.
February 17, 2013 at 4:34 pm |
I drop a comment when I like a post on a site
or if I have something to valuable to contribute to the discussion.
Usually it is triggered by the passion communicated in
the post I looked at. And after this post Sociological Imagination | Josh’s WordPress Blog. I was actually excited enough to leave a thought :-P I actually do have a couple of questions for you if it’s allright.
Is it just me or does it give the impression like some of these responses appear as if they are coming from brain dead individuals?
:-P And, if you are writing on other social sites, I would like to follow
you. Could you make a list the complete urls of your shared sites like your twitter feed, Facebook page
or linkedin profile?
February 22, 2013 at 7:23 pm |
Wow, that’s what I was looking for, what a stuff! present here at this webpage, thanks admin of this web page.
March 25, 2013 at 3:12 am |
nice post!
June 27, 2013 at 10:32 am |
Howdy! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I’d figured I’d
ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest authoring a blog post or vice-versa?
My blog discusses a lot of the same topics as yours and I
feel we could greatly benefit from each other.
If you happen to be interested feel free to send me
an email. I look forward to hearing from you! Terrific blog by the way!
November 14, 2013 at 4:03 am |
Thanks! Jos for the wonderful and interesting article.