I.

Title of the Report: SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION

II. Reporters: Arleen Lim
III. Professor: Dr. Antonio Maramag
IV. Date Started: October 1, 2019
V. Introduction
VI. Objectives
A. To define sociological imagination
B. To have a deeper understanding of the kind of life one lives
C. To relate personal issues with history and the society
D. Discuss C. Wright Mills’ claim concerning the importance of the “sociological imagination” for
individuals
E. To grasp what is going on in the world based on the meaning of sociological imagination

VII. Content
A. What is sociological imagination?
1. The ability to situate personal troubles within an informed framework of larger social processes.
2. The vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society.
3. Ability to connect one’s personal experiences to society at large and great historical forces.
4. the capacity to shift from one perspective to another.
5. The ability to see the impact of massive cultural and historical processes on our private lives.
6. The ability to recognize that the solutions to many of our most serious social problems lie not in
changing the personal situations and characteristics of individual people but in changing the
social institutions and roles available to them.
7. Understanding that some things in society may lead to a certain outcome
8. An outlook of society which tries to steer us into thinking away from one's usual day-to-day life
and look at one's life afresh
9. A quality of mind that helps an individual see what is going on in the world and what is
happening within the self
10. A quality of mind that understands the interplay of the individual and society.
Things that shape these outcomes include (but are not limited to): social norms, what people
want to gain from their actions (their motives), and the social context in which they live (e.g.
country, time period, people with whom they associate).
11. Allows us to recognize that solutions to many of our problems are not in changing the personal
situations and characteristics of individuals, but in changing the social institutions and roles
available to them.

B. Origins of the Sociological Imagination

The sociological imagination was born in the context of three modern revolutions that pushed people
to think about society in new ways.
1. The Scientific Revolution (1550) suggested that a science of society was possible.
The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science
during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy,
biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transformed the views of society about
nature.
The period saw a fundamental transformation in scientific ideas across mathematics,
physics, astronomy, and biology in institutions supporting scientific investigation and in the
more widely held picture of the universe. The Scientific Revolution led to the establishment of
several modern sciences. In 1984, Joseph Ben-David wrote:
Rapid accumulation of knowledge, which has characterized the development of science
since the 17th century, had never occurred before that time. The new kind of scientific activity
emerged only in a few countries of Western Europe, and it was restricted to that small area for
about two hundred years. (Since the 19th century, scientific knowledge has been assimilated by
the rest of the world).

2. The Democratic Revolution (1750) suggested that people could intervene to improve society.
At the end of the Revolutionary War, in the 1780s, some people, most notably the Tories,
wanted power to remain in the hands of the aristocracy; they believed that all men meant all
gentlemen. Many Tories feared that "the Revolution would lead to a democratic upheaval" and
these fears were not "without foundation" (Miller, 500). Some Americans certainly "regarded
 the principles of the Declaration of Independence as presaging a new social and political order".
The democratic features of the Revolution included a call for 'no taxation without
representation' at home, denouncing certain titles such as 'His Excellency,' resentment against
profiteers, demands for "all institutions to be subjected to the test of reason" and other aspects.
One of the democratic features of the new country was the almost equal pay provided to the
soldiers. This egalitarianism was defended by the New Englanders and attacked by the
Southerners. The best example of democracy was the violent upheaval that swept away the
Quaker oligarchy in Pennsylvania. The final draft of the Constitution is a great example of
democracy all in itself. It made America safe for democracy. After the Peace of Paris,
Americans finally put away their arms and "vigorously sought to apply the ideals for which they
had fought to conditions at home".

3. The Industrial Revolution (1780s) presented social thinkers with a host of pressing social
problems crying out for solution.
The Industrial Revolution, now also known as the First Industrial Revolution, was the
transition to new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United States, in the period from
about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840.
The Industrial Revolution, now also known as the First Industrial Revolution, was the
transition to new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United States, in the period from
about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. This transition included going from hand
production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes,
the increasing use of steam power and water power, the development of machine tools and the
rise of the mechanized factory system. The Industrial Revolution also led to an unprecedented
rise in the rate of population growth.
Textiles were the dominant industry of the Industrial Revolution in terms of employment,
value of output and capital invested. The textile industry was also the first to use modern
production methods.
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, and many of the technological
innovations were of British origin. By the mid-18th century Britain was the world's leading
commercial nation, controlling a global trading empire with colonies in North America and the
Caribbean, and with political influence on the Indian subcontinent, particularly Bengal Subah,
through the activities of the East India Company. The development of trade and the rise of
business were among the major causes of the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in history; almost every aspect of
daily life was influenced in some way. In particular, average income and population began to
exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. Some economists say that the major effect of the
Industrial Revolution was that the standard of living for the general population in the western
world began to increase consistently for the first time in history, although others have said that it
did not begin to meaningfully improve until the late 19th and 20th centuries
They responded by giving birth to the Sociological Imagination.

C. Examples of Sociological Imagination

1. Understanding the Sociological Imagination
The most common example of the sociological imagination pertains to unemployment. An
individual facing unemployment might feel defeated, depleted, and discouraged. That person is
likely to look in the mirror and say, "You didn't work hard enough. You didn't try hard
enough…" You, you, you.
If Mills were around, he'd say, "Not you. The world around you." Mills believed things
only worked when you saw "the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the
wider society." He encouraged people to stop focusing on themselves alone and to look at the
wider landscape of society.
If you take Mills' stance, you'll start to believe that every problem faced by an individual
has roots in society as a whole and is faced by many others. There's some truth to that, isn't
there? It's unlikely that every struggle you face is unique to you alone. There are hundreds,
thousands, if not millions of others who are going through the same struggle.
However, Mills never thought sociology alone was the ultimate science. He felt
sociologists, psychologists, economists, and political scientists should all work together. This
makes sense, given his broad pair of lenses.
2. Everyday Behavior and Sociological Imagination
This is a fun place to start because it allows us to see how almost any behavior can have the
sociological imagination applied to it. Something as simple as drinking a cup of tea, or coffee,
can be examined from several different perspectives. It's rarely just an old lady sipping a warm
cup of Earl Grey on a misty morning.
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.
• Drinking tea or coffee can be considered a tradition or a ritual, as many people
choose to make it in the same way every day at a certain time.
• Drinking tea or coffee can be considered an addiction because they contain
caffeine.
• Coffee drinking can be seen as a social activity because "going for coffee" focuses
less on the beverage and more on talking with others.
As soon as you start to think about various issues or activities in perspectives that differ
from your own, you're entering the realm of the sociological imagination. Other everyday
behaviors that can be viewed using the sociological imagination technique include
exercising, watching TV or owning a pet. How many different perspectives can you think
of for these activities?

3. College Choices and the Sociological Imagination

Consider the choices that need to be made when applying to college. You might think this is
a solitary path: you have to pass the tests, you have to nail the college entrance essays. But, is it
such a solitary path?
Never mind the obvious point that millions of others are also doing it. Even your personal
situation is broader than your immediate world when you take into consideration your family
members, friends, and school teachers.
Do your friends have any expectations of you? Is a teacher indirectly pushing you toward
an Ivy League when you want to attend art school in Manhattan? Do you have a longstanding
family history at one university over another?
Boxing up your college choices into a solitary experience can easily be shaken up by
sociological imagination.

4. Deviance and the Sociological Imagination

Whether we see it on TV or see it in real life, deviance is prevalent. Where do we even start?
There's common thievery, random murder, gang violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and on and
on.
Is deviance a personal act of desperation? Maybe. Gang members make terrible decisions
each and every day. Is that because they're terrible people? That's not for us to say. But, taking
things in a broader context, think about this: what if one of those gang members met his fate
when his father started abusing him and his mother abandoned him. In a search for some sort of
familial replacement, suddenly, he's a deviant member of society.
The sociological imagination is never meant to excuse someone's position in life. Whether
we're dealing with unemployment or gang members, it's never okay to just put it all on society.
We have to show some accountability for our choices and actions. It's just that life is rarely a
solitary situation where our singular choices are untouched by societal or cultural variables.

5. Social Media and the Sociological Imagination

We might consider social media to be a 21st-century phenomenon. Mills would probably
say, "Is that so?" Social media didn't pop out of thin air and land in the laps of millennials. It
must've taken root somewhere, evolved from something else.
So, while we don't consider Instagram to be the lovechild of, say, the beeper, there are
wider lenses we should be using whenever we contemplate current life. Indeed, nearly
everything we experience today is an extension of some prior period in life.
It would be hard to call social media a personal experience. Just look at the name. But,
how is it impacting you every day? How does it touch your study habits and work
opportunities? How does it shape your relationships or help you identify yourself? These are
questions that will have different answers for everyone. But, every time you click on that
Instagram icon on your phone, 500 million others could be doing the exact same thing.
 6. Marriage and Sociological Influence
Do you think all our ancestors got married because they fell madly in love? Did some of
them get married because their parents arranged it? Did others get married simply because they
felt it was "time"?
How about today? Does everyone marry strictly for that fairy tale kind of love? Or do they
marry because it's what society tells them is right? This is not a judgment on any decision any
person makes. It's a commentary on how something so personal, love and romance, isn't always
a singular experience.
Taking out those wider lenses, we might see that dating and marriage has a little bit to do with
what our friends say, how our parents feel, or the feared stigma of dying alone surrounded by cats.

VIII. References
• Writing Assignments. (2013, January 22). Retrieved February 10, 2015, from
https://justmysociologicalimagination.wordpress.com/writing-assignments/
• Examples of Sociological Imagination. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9th, 2015, from
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-sociological-imagination.html
• C. Wright Mills' Sociology. (2005, March 1). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from
http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Essays/Mills3.htm
• Mills, C. Wright. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. Retrieved February 10, 2015, from
http://legacy.lclark.edu/~goldman
• Enotes. (2012, March 19). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from http://www.enotes.com/homework-
help/what-sociology-perspective-324286
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (2014) Retrieved February 9, 2015, from
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/sociology/the-sociological-perspective/three-major-
perspectives-in-sociology
• Your Dictionary. (1996-2015). Retrieved February 10, 2015, from
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-sociological-imagination.html
• https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/introtosociology/Documents/Field%20of%20sociology
033108.htm
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