Question

What is sociological imagination? How can using the sociological imagination give us the power to change the world? Give a suitable example.

Answer 1

Sociological imagination is changing the perspective of seeing our issues and concepts that we think are our own and very personal. When we live in a society the concepts and issues of our daily and personal life are not limited to us, many like are facing the same problems and have similar concepts like us. Thus, sociological imagination takes our thinking beyond our personal level to much broader perspective of the society. This helps to think about the issues from the perspective of the others and helps us to connect with them. This connection helps us to strive to eradicate or prevent the problem on societal level. Thus, it gives us the power to change.

The best example would be, in the male dominated patriarchial societies of the world where girls were forbidden from gaining education and living a dignified life, the things are changing because the women are now more aware of their rights and freedom, now they know that this is not their personal problem but is faced by the majority of the women in the society. This has connected and united them to raise their voice, work for their betterment, and make the policy makers think about their problems and make strong policies for their upliftment.