We can use sociology to understand what’s happening in our world right now!!!  Understanding fast food “strip searches”  Who is at fault for this? Who do you want to blame? Who is at fault for this? Who do you want to blame? What characteristics of our society could help us better explain how this could happen? What characteristics of our society could help us better explain how this could happen?

One tool we can use is:  “The Sociological Imagination” (C. Wright Mills, 1959)  Mills as a rebel who believed that research should be used to help people understand the world around them!

The Sociological Imagination: Two Parts  Troubles: private problems from events in one’s own life  Issues: Affect large groups of people and come from the structure of society Social structure: pattern of behavior, relationships, and institutions that make up society! Social structure: pattern of behavior, relationships, and institutions that make up society!

The Sociological Imagination: How Does it Work? Sociological imagination transforms personal problems (or troubles) into public issues Your social location (or place in life) has an effect on your life chances, which means that “…the individual can…know his [or her!] chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in his circumstances.” [It’s not just you!] “To understand the experience of a given person or group of people, one had to have knowledge of the social and historical context in which people lived.” [We must understand how biography (personal) meets history (social).]

Try it yourself!  Have you served, or do you have friends or family who have served in war?  How can we apply the sociological imagination to see serving in war as both a personal trouble and a social issue?

Why should we learn to “think sociologically”?  Separate evidence from “common sense” or stereotypes that are not factual  Understand how our chances in life are affected by our social location (in other words, the statuses we occupy in society like gender, race, social class, etc.)  Empower us to work for social change  Question our interpretation as “right” or “natural”