NOTES Sociological Imagination Presentation

8/19/2015
Our goal here

is for us to learn
“We need to cultivate the imagination, what cannot be taught;
for those who lack an imagination to learn what can only be grown
cannot know what is lacking.” within us, by us,
through our own engagement,
experience, and reflection
with and on our own realities.
-Vijay Prashad
The
Sociological Let us imagine a traffic jam…
Imagination
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Sociology
Systematic study of human societies.
So what is Sociology?
YOU SHOULD WRITE THIS DOWN

OR MAKE SURE YOU GET IT FROM
THE WEB SITE
“Sociologists question
what most others Why is Sociology important?
take for granted
about society.”
-Dalton Conley
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Sociological thinking can help us

better understand society, how
we fit into it, how it shapes us,
Let us start
and how we can change it. with an easy question:
Sociological thinking
—developing a sociological imagination—
is super powerful,
in my opinion.
Why are you here?
“Thinking like a sociologist means

making the familiar strange.”
-Dalton Conley
Sociology won’t
give you all the answers.
But it will
help you ask the
right questions.
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C. Wright Mills
The Sociological Imagination
TIME TO READ!
Also:
You will get out of this class
Reading is not about as much as you put into it.
perfect understanding;
Remember, the most important
reading is about learning.
lesson of this class cannot be
taught; it can only be grown
within you, by you.
How Are We Going To Do This?

• You are to do this first reading on your own
• Please do all of the following:
– Read the entire text for our seminar discussion on Monday
– Annotate the entire text
• What does “annotate” mean? How do YOU annotate?
– Write a 5-sentence summary of the text
• Write this on the text itself (exactly 5 sentences!)
– Write at least 3 discussion questions for our seminar
• What makes a good discussion question? (write on the text)
– Answer the following questions:
• How does C. Wright Mills define a Sociological Imagination?
• What does Mills’ definition of the Sociological Imagination mean?
• This must all be completed prior to Monday’s seminar. I
will not accept any of this late; it is important to be
prepared for our discussion.
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The Sociological Imagination

• Annotations
• Summaries • Milieu or Milieux
• Questions –Cultural surroundings or
• How does C. Wright Mills define a cultural context
Sociological Imagination?
“The Sociological Imagination” defined:
• “A quality of mind that will help

“Neither the life of an individual [people] use information and
nor the history of society develop reason in order to achieve
can be understood lucid summations of what is going on
without understanding both.” in the world and what may be
happening within themselves.”
“The first fruit of this imagination…is

the idea that the individual can
understand [their] own experience
and gauge [their] own fate only by “In many ways it is a terrible lesson;
locating [themselves] within [their] in many ways a magnificent one.”
period, that [they] can know [their]
own chances in life only by
becoming aware of those of all
individuals in [their] circumstance.”
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8/19/2015
Intersection of Biography and History

“By the fact of [your] living [you “The sociological imagination enables us to
contribute], however minutely, to grasp history and biography and the relations
the shaping of this society and to between the two within society.
the course of its history, even as
[you are] made by society and by its That is its task and its promise.”
historical push and shove.”
Personal Troubles vs. Public Issues

Examples?
Personal Trouble
Or
Public Issue?
Smoking Related Deaths in the US Smoking Related Deaths in the US

• More deaths are caused each year by tobacco • Based on current cigarette smoking patterns,
use than by all deaths from HIV, illegal drug an estimated 25 million Americans who are
use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, alive today will die prematurely from smoking-
suicides, and murders combined. related illnesses, including 5 million people
younger than 18 years of age.
• 300,000 to over 400,000 deaths annually
– Data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(including deaths from secondhand smoke).
• 49,400 deaths per year from secondhand
smoke exposure Personal trouble or public issue?
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“The first wisdom of sociology is this:

Alright, let us move on.
things are not what they seem.”
-Peter Berger, 1963
Some might say, what we are

striving for with sociology, as Marx
put it in 1843, is “a ruthless criticism
of all that exists, ruthless both in example
the sense of not being afraid of the
results it arrives at and in the sense
of being just as little afraid of
conflict with the powers that be.”
What might be some obstacles to

developing a sociological imagination?
Sociology has been called, • Cultural values of individualism and free will
the great myth de-bunking • Desire for certain rather than probable answers
discipline. • Social processes are dynamic, not static

• Commitment to “common sense”
But thinking sociologically
• Critical nature of the discipline
ain’t always easy.
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8/19/2015
What might be some benefits of the What might be some benefits of the
sociological perspective? sociological perspective?
• Humanizing effects
– Fosters appreciation for diversity and broadens • Helps us understand obstacles to solving social
personal views problems
• Liberating
– Empowers people to recognize their role in making • Inoculates us against simple explanations of
history complex issues
– Helps overcome “bad faith”
• Bad Faith = the belief that you have no freedom—when
people argue they don’t have a choice but to follow unjust
rules or do their job
• Our choices may not be without consequences, but we do
have choices (even if they are limited)
• With liberation come responsibility
Anyone who gives you a

simple solution for a
complex problem is either
ignorant or lying.
Remember this.

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8/19/2015

Our goal here

YOU SHOULD WRITE THIS DOWN

Sociological thinking can help us

Why are you here?

“Thinking like a sociologist means

How Are We Going To Do This?

The Sociological Imagination

“The Sociological Imagination” defined:

• “A quality of mind that will help

“The first fruit of this imagination…is

Intersection of Biography and History

Personal Troubles vs. Public Issues

Smoking Related Deaths in the US Smoking Related Deaths in the US

“The first wisdom of sociology is this:

-Peter Berger, 1963

Some might say, what we are

What might be some obstacles to

discipline. • Social processes are dynamic, not static

Anyone who gives you a

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