The ‘Sociological Imagination’ Concept

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Life is a complex issue that is significantly hard to understand. Humans worldwide expect to live a peaceful life by managing the various forces and factors that come their way. A critical desire among almost all humans is to live a peaceful life free of troubles and shocks. However, such a desire is hard to realize in the practical world. Several scholars have expressed concerns about this aspect, with a majority coming up with concepts that seek to explain the matter. One of the first scientists to view life in this manner was Plato, one of the great Greek legends. The philosopher and sociologist (Plato) developed the Theory of Forms in the sixteenth century, which tries to explain the unpredictability of life. Plato’s theory purports that life exists in more than one form (Politis, 2021). These include the ideal life, which exists in one’s thoughts and brain, and the practical life. The ideal life is free from chaos, changes, and uncertainties, while the practical life is full of changes that make living meaningless at times.

Plato’s theory held a significant meaning among many people then. The philosophy helped Greeks realize psychological and social stability by assuming the hardships and many troubles of practical life but never aided in getting the real meaning of life (Politis, 2021). People, therefore, continued to live in darkness while struggling to solve personal troubles individually until the twentieth century, when Mills conceived the sociological imagination concept (Dannefer, 2022). The sociology model’s effectiveness in explaining humans’ troubles makes it be reflected as foundational in sociology (Dannefer, 2022). The concepts stand out because they can explain people’s sufferings using societal problems. Thus, troubles are never experienced in singleness; rather, humans experience problems because societies have issues.

Blaming oneself or wondering why some things are happening to an individual is meaningless until the individual realizes the period he or she exists. Mills argues that people can never understand human troubles or society’s issues until they comprehend both (Mills & Gitlin, 2000). The argument forms the basis of the ‘sociological imagination’ idea, which maintains that humans are weak characters that cannot individually overcome the issues faced by their generation. To elaborate further on Mills’ sociological concept, this work utilizes a set of present-day troubles that people experience. The discussion shows the applicability of Mills’ sociological imagination by presenting specific troubles that come to humans due to one’s period of existence. Examples of the issues addressed by this discussion include divorce, unemployment, and college dropouts among American youths.

Mills maintains that a social study must focus on problems of ‘biography’ and ‘history,’ together with the two factors’ connections within a society, to complete its intellectual expedition. A ‘biography’ is a private matter, while a ‘history’ is a public problem (Mills & Gitlin, 2000). The sociologist also uses ‘trouble’ and ‘issue’ for the two terms (biography and history) to explain the connection between an individual’s sufferings and society’s problems. A look at divorce, for example, shows Mills’ ingenuity and the reason behind his concept’s veneration. Separation occurs when married people no longer manage to live together. Marriage is a basic social institution cherished by many cultures and religions worldwide. Global cultures often view the family as the best way to human continuity and development (Houseworth & Chiswick, 2020). Marriages are, therefore, meant to last because of the high value they bear.

Marriage is currently under significant threat due to the rise in divorce rates worldwide. Many young marriages in the U.S., for example, do not celebrate their fourth anniversary (Houseworth & Chiswick, 2020). Using Mills’ sociological imagination provides a reliable way of understanding the matter from the societal scope instead of an individual’s case. Adopting Mills’ concept on the issue of divorce, for example, places the aspect of turning women into dependent household ‘slaves’ and men into families’ chief breadwinners at the center of marriages’ deaths. The marriage institution requires care and adequate financing to flourish (Houseworth & Chiswick, 2019). Many people getting into marriage today expect theirs to function like in the 1950s, making the situation unbearable. The trend of maintaining women in the kitchen while their husbands go to work is a twenty-first-century issue that directly influences many individual couples’ troubles in marriage. The matter is significantly hard to resolve without connecting the societal problem and individuals’ troubles. The situation proves the essence of Mills’ sociological imagination, where one must understand a social problem to address specific human troubles.

Unemployment is another critical issue among the twenty-first-century population that requires clear understanding. Addressing unemployment among individuals’ lack of jobs by looking at their levels of education would work if only one or ten persons in a society lacked a job while ten thousand members were working. However, the present global situation features societies where almost half of the employable population lacks jobs (Cebula, 2019). Trying to fix this issue from an individual’s perspective can never provide a solution. Instead, the move would only introduce corruption as people seek to buy job opportunities to fix the individual’s troubles. Dhongde et al. (2019) say that an economy where the masses lack jobs implies a problem in economic and political systems. For example, many economies worldwide that utilize capitalism often fall to the issue of unemployment and massive social dependence whenever a recess occurs.

The global economy goes through cycles that expose humans to significant changes. A look at the worldwide economic pattern for the past five decades shows that a global or regional economic crisis occurs at least once every decade (Bensnes & Strum, 2019). Recovering from such a crisis takes nations and societies several years, with some struggling until another crisis hits. The situation, therefore, indicates the pathetic global economic condition, which makes it hard for societies to realize stability. Politics also bear significant blame regarding the problem; many governments maintain political systems that support dysfunctional economic policies that make jobs susceptible to controllable forces (Shester et al., 2019). Consequently, both the political and economic aspects, in this case, constitute societal issues that need fixing for the personal problems to end. That aspect, therefore, proves the essence of Mills’ sociological imagination in bringing social stability by solving historical problems.

Mill’s sociological imagination concept also holds the ability to explain the excessive challenge of college dropouts in the U.S. during the twenty-first century. Dupéré et al. (2018) report that about forty percent of youths enrolled in American universities do not graduate. Research on the aspect often links misuse of freedom, lack of finances, and social media to the problem (Lukács & Dávid, 2019). Using Mills’ sociological imagination idea makes it possible to understand that many high-school graduates join colleges without proper preparation to manage the rigors of higher learning institutions’ life (Levine, 2016). Lack of adequate challenge in high school makes it hard for many American teenagers to control their habits. The inadequate preparation of teenagers to manage campus life results in the inability to focus on college studies, a societal issue that causes college dropout among about half of the nation’s college students. Poor economic conditions in that nation also make it hard for many college learners to complete school (Bensnes & Strum, 2019). The failure to understand these issues from the societal perspective makes it hard for a parent to comprehend the problem among individual students.

Mills’ concept is very crucial in resolving different matters and making America and the world stable. The aspect explains the centrality of the sociological imagination concept in unraveling sociological dilemmas. The above discussion shows the application of Mills’ concept to several social problems and troubles. Such issues include divorce, unemployment, and college dropout. Applying the sociological imagination idea to the three problems makes it easy to understand the root cause of the three social problems.

References

Bensnes, S. S., & Strum, B. (2019). Earning or learning? How extending closing time in the retail sector affects youth employment and education.Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 81(2), 299–327.

Cebula, R. J. (2019). Labor market freedom and geographic differentials in the percentage unemployment rate in the U.S.Journal of Economics and Finance, 43(4), 828–840.

Dannefer, D. (2022). Age and the reach of sociological imagination: Power, ideology, and the life course. Taylor & Francis Group.

Dhongde, S., Pattanaik, P. K., & Xu, Y. (2019). Well-being, deprivation, and the great recession in the U.S.: A study in a multidimensional framework.Review of Income and Wealth, 65, 306.

Dupéré, V., Dion, E., Leventhal, T., Archambault, I., Crosnoe, R., & Janosz, M. (2018). High school dropout in proximal context: The triggering role of stressful life events. Child Development, 89(2), 122.

Houseworth, C. A., & Chiswick, B. R. (2019). Correction to: Divorce among European and Mexican immigrants in the U.S.Review of Economics of the Household, 18(1), 27–33.

Houseworth, C. A., & Chiswick, B. R. (2020). Divorce among European and Mexican immigrants in the U.S.Review of Economics of the Household, 18(1), 1–25.

Levine, R. F. (2016). Enriching the sociological imagination: How radical sociology changed the discipline. Routledge.

Lukács, J. Á. & Dávid, B. (2019). Roma undergraduates’ personal network in the process of college transition. a social capital approach. Research in Higher Education, 60(1), 64–82.

Mills, C. & Gitlin, T. (2000). The sociological imagination. Oxford University Press, USA.

Politis, V. (2021). Plato’s essentialism: Reinterpreting the theory of forms. Cambridge University Press.

Shester, K. L., Allen, S. K., & Handy, C. (2019). Concrete measures: the rise of public housing and changes in young single motherhood in the U.S.Journal of Population Economics: International Research on the Economics of Population, Household, and Human Resources, 32(2), 369–418.

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The ‘Sociological Imagination’ Concept

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