Download The Sociological Perspective

12/27/2016
“We need to cultivate the imagination,
for those who lack an imagination
cannot know what is lacking.”
-Vijay Prashad
Our goal here
is for us to learn
what cannot be taught;
to learn what can only be grown
within us, by us,
through our own engagement,
experience, and reflection
within and on our own realities.
The
Sociological
Imagination
Let us imagine a traffic jam…
1
12/27/2016
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
take for granted
about society.”
Why is Sociology important?
-Dalton Conley
2
12/27/2016
Sociological thinking can help us
better understand society, how
we fit into it, how it shapes us,
and how we can change it.
Sociological thinking
—developing a sociological imagination—
is super powerful,
in my opinion.
“The general population
doesn’t know what’s
happening, and it
doesn’t even know that
it doesn’t know.”
-Noam Chomsky
Why are you here?
Let us start
with an easy question:
Sociology won’t
give you all the answers.
“Thinking like a sociologist means
making the familiar strange.”
But it will
help you ask the
right questions.
-Dalton Conley
3
12/27/2016
TIME TO READ!
C. Wright Mills
The Sociological Imagination
Reading is not about
perfect understanding;
reading is about learning.
Also:
You will get out of this class
as much as you put into it.
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 tomorrow’s seminar discussion
– Annotate the entire text
• What does “annotate” mean?
– Write a 5-sentence summary of the text
Remember, the most important
lesson of this class cannot be
taught; it can only be grown
within you, by you.
• Write this on the text itself (exactly 5 sentences!)
– Write at least 3 discussion questions for our seminar
• Again, write these on the text (these will be part of your annotations)
– 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 tomorrow’s seminar. I
will not accept any of this late; it is important to be
prepared for our discussion.
4
12/27/2016
The Sociological Imagination
•
•
•
•
• Milieu or Milieux
–Cultural surroundings or
cultural context
“The Sociological Imagination” defined:
• “A quality of mind that will help
[people] use information and
develop reason in order to achieve
lucid summations of what is going on
in the world and what may be
happening within themselves.”
Annotations
Summaries
Questions
How does C. Wright Mills define a
Sociological Imagination?
“Neither the life of an individual
nor the history of society
can be understood
without understanding both.”
“The first fruit of this imagination…is
the idea that the individual can
understand [their] own experience
and gauge [their] own fate only by
locating [themselves] within [their]
period, that [they] can know [their]
own chances in life only by
becoming aware of those of all
individuals in [their] circumstance.”
5
12/27/2016
“In many ways it is a terrible lesson;
in many ways a magnificent one.”
“By the fact of [your] living [you
contribute], however minutely, to
the shaping of this society and to
the course of its history, even as
[you are] made by society and by its
historical push and shove.”
Intersection of Biography and History
Personal Troubles vs. Public Issues
“The sociological imagination enables us to
grasp history and biography and the relations
between the two within society.
Examples?
That is its task and its promise.”
Smoking Related Deaths in the US
• More deaths are caused each year by tobacco
use than by all deaths from HIV, illegal drug
use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries,
suicides, and murders combined.
Personal Trouble
Or
Public Issue?
6
12/27/2016
Smoking Related Deaths in the US
Smoking Related Deaths in the US
• Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than
480,000 deaths per year in the United States,
including nearly 42,000 deaths resulting from
secondhand smoke exposure. This is about
one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths
every day.
• On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than
nonsmokers.
• If smoking continues at the current rate among
U.S. youth, 5.6 million of today’s Americans
younger than 18 years of age are expected to die
prematurely from a smoking-related illness. This
represents about one in every 13 Americans aged
17 years or younger who are alive today.
– Data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Personal trouble or public issue?
Alright, let us move on.
“The first wisdom of sociology is this:
things are not what they seem.”
-Peter Berger, 1963
“It's easier to fool people than to convince
them that they have been fooled.”
-???
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
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.”
7
12/27/2016
The Three Dimensions of Power
a theory from Steven Lukes
• First Dimension
Sociology is also about
understanding power.
– the capacity to make someone do something they
would not otherwise do
– “A” has power over “B” because “A” has superior
resources
– we generally accept that these people have power
and have the authority to wield it
The Three Dimensions of Power
a theory from Steven Lukes
• Second Dimension
– the agenda-setting dimension where the “rules of the
game” are made
– “A” has power over “B” because “A” sets the agenda
and establishes the rules by which everyone plays
– this can be hard to see because rules seem detached
from the relations of power that produce them
– getting to write – and enforce – the rules we must live
by is extremely powerful
The Three Dimensions of Power
a theory from Steven Lukes
• Third Dimension
– people internalize the rules as the “natural” order of
things
– “A” has power over “B” because “B” doesn’t even see
that there’s a problem
– the powerless are socialized (through experience,
media, religion, education) to adopt the interests of
the powerful as their own, and to accept the rules as
just and right
– even if “B” can see the rules are unfair, they accept
that there is nothing they can do about it
8
12/27/2016
A sociological imagination can help
us see and understand power and
act back effectively.
9
12/27/2016
What might be some obstacles to
developing a sociological imagination?
Sociology has been called,
the great myth de-bunking
discipline.
• Cultural values of individualism and free will
• Desire for certain rather than probable answers
• Social processes are dynamic, not static
• Commitment to “common sense”
But thinking sociologically
ain’t always easy.
• Critical nature of the discipline
Why is developing a
sociological imagination
so important?
(here a few reasons)
10
12/27/2016
What might be some benefits of a
sociological imagination?
What might be some benefits of a
sociological imagination?
• Humanizing effects
– Fosters appreciation for diversity and broadens
personal views
• Liberating
– Empowers people to recognize their role in making
history
– Helps overcome “bad faith”
• Helps us understand obstacles to solving social
problems
• Inoculates us against simple explanations of
complex issues
• 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
11
12/27/2016
Remember this:
Anyone who gives you a
simple solution for a
complex problem is either
ignorant or lying.
The person who
controls the questions
controls the answers.
Remember this too, please.
12