Download The Sociological Imagination

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• Is unemployment a personal or
public issue? Explain.
• How about obesity? Personal or
public? Explain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BINK6r1Wy78
SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
• C. Wright Mills- The Sociological
Imagination (1959)
– Task of sociology is to realize
that individual circumstances
are linked to the structure of
society
• Allows sociologists to focus on the
common behaviors of groups
of people not just the individual!
SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
Components of SI:
1. History: How societies come to be,
change, and make history
2. Biography: What kinds of people live in
a particular society
3. Social Structure: The power structure
of groups and institutions within a
society.
SOCIAL SCIENCES
• Sociology is considered a social
science
• Social sciences study of the social
feature of humans and the ways in
which they interact and change.
• Social Sciences include:
– Anthropology
– Psychology
– Economics
– History
– Political Science
HISTORY
OF
SOCIOLOGY
AUGUSTE COMTE (1798-1857)
• Founder of Sociology
• Coined the term sociology in 1838
• Ideas:
– Theoretical science of society and
investigation of behavior were needed to
improve society
– Different from natural sciences; comparative
historical method (makes sociology unique)
KARL MARX (1818-1883)
• Widely known for economic theories, but
primarily a social reformer (wanted change!)
• Ideas:
– A person’s social standing at birth
determined the quality of his/her life and
opportunities
– Those who control the means of production
will exploit the working class for their own
financial gain
– Imbalance of power leads to class struggle and,
eventually, revolution!
HARRIET MARTINEAU (1802-1876)
• Considered the first female sociologist
• Ideas:
– Noted inequalities in social class, gender
and race
– Criticized slavery from both moral and economic
standpoints; supported abolition of slavery
– Strongly criticized the state of education of
women
HERBERT SPENCER (1820-1903)
• Extremely popular European intellectual
• Ideas:
– Believed evolution could be applied to a
multitude of sciences, including sociology
– Compared society to a biological organism
– Social Darwinism: The best ideas and
groups in society survive and the worst
become extinct
EMILE DURKHEIM (1858-1917)
• The first social scientist to apply methods
of science to the study of sociology
• Ideas:
– Believed that behavior must be understood
within a larger social context, not just in
individualistic terms
– Studied the consequences of work in
modern societies
MAX WEBER (1864-1920)
• Humans act on the basis of their own
understanding of a situation
• Sociologists must work to understand the
underlying beliefs and attitudes that
guide human behavior.
• Ideas:
– Verstehen: Understanding social behavior
by putting oneself in the place of others
– Rationalization: Mindset that relies on
knowledge and reason
IDA WELLS-BARNETT (1862 – 1931)
• Advocate in the women’s rights
campaign
• Analyzed society as a means of
resisting oppression
• Worked with Jane Addams (1860-1935)
as an activist in the campaign for
women’s right to vote
W.E.B. DUBOIS (1868 – 1963)
• Conducted research that he hoped would
assist in the struggle for a racially
egalitarian (equal) society
• Conducted in-depth studies of urban life
in major cities
• Inspirational figure for many African
American civil rights leaders