Question

The post illustrates one example of the intersection of biography and history. What examples does Mills provide in his article "The Sociological Imagination" (posted right above this assignment)? Discuss another example from your own experience that illustrates this concept.

Answer 1

• Sociologist C. Wright Mills describes the importance of timing in his classic 1959 book, The Sociological Imagination, where he notes that all of our life chances are shaped by the intersections of our own personal biographies and history.
• C. Wright Mills defined sociological imagination as "the awareness of the relationship between personal experience and the wider society".
• Understanding and being able to exercise the sociological imagination helps us understand the relationship between the individual and society. Mills focuses on the distinction of personal troubles and public issues. For example, exercising is not just a personal behavior but is vastly influenced by society.
• Mills states "the sociological imagination enables 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." Most people live their lives in relatively small groups. They interact with their families, friends, co-workers, fellow students, neighbors, and so on. Their understanding of the world is heavily conditioned by this context, yet all of these small groups are localized representations of larger patterns in society – what sociologists call social institutions. These institutions are complex, historically created social constructions that condition people's existence, constrain their behavior, and open opportunities for individual and social action.
• We are socialized into a particular institutional context, and thus accept our condition as normal, rarely questioning the underlying logic of our institutional system. For example, students participate in educational institutions, yet rarely ask why our educational institutions are structured the way they are, with teachers lecturing and students taking notes and exams. Who's interests are truly served by this system of instruction?
• Mills is making the point that sociology connects an individual's circumstances (biography) with the larger institutional context (history). Possessing the capacity to exercise your sociological imagination, to understand how your life is conditioned by social institutions, is empowering. This understanding allows you to take more control of your own life, rather than simply accepting the circumstances that were handed to you.
• To Mills, trouble is an individual's character and with those limited areas of social life of which he is directly and personally aware. An issue, then, is matters that transcend these local environments of the individual and the limited range of their life. Basically, a personal trouble has to do with the individual, and to resolve the trouble, one must look at the character and life of the individual. Issues, then, have to do with society and some element within it.
• For example, if you have one person who is unemployed then you look at that individual's skills and abilities to try and resolve the problem. This means that the trouble of unemployment is caused by something within the individual. However, if you have 14 million people unemployed, then this is beyond the individual and is now a social issue. This issue cannot be corrected by focusing on only the individuals, but must be resolved by looking at the bigger social elements.
• For example:Tea drinking can be seen as a means of maintaining good health in the way that one might take daily supplements or vitamins which is why I am a tea lover.