‘The Sociological Imagination’ written by C. Wright Mills discusses how sociology is the practice and ability of intellectually removing one’s mind from routine and familiar situations and events in order to view things from a clearer objective and standpoint. C. Wright Mills demonstrates two conceptions of social reality throughout the book. The first notion is ‘the individual’. Mills discusses how ‘the individual’ experience and worldly viewpoints are results from the environment in which the individual exists in. The second notion is ‘society’. Mills describes society as a “systemic economic inequality and structural poverty”. He blames society for an individual personal trouble.
A connection I made to the book while reading would be when I was first applying to college during my junior and senior year of high school. As a prospective college student, college is a perceived as a solitary journey to one’s path to success. In order to be accepted into the university of my choice there is a process I had to take. I had to take and pass the college entry test along with the application essays. The sociological imagination scared most incoming freshman into frenzy. Personally, I believe the pressure was on because almost every member of my family attended college, therefore, I felt that it was my responsibility to not let my parents and family down. Because my mom and dad both placed a high value on education, I was raised to understand the importance of it. I believe this also has to with my father not attending college. When he came to America from Colombia, he was 17 he just worked the rest of his life. In some ways he says not attending college has set him back in life. Therefore, boxing up our college choices into a solitary experience can easily be shaken up by the sociological imagination.
In the beginning of the story, Mills starts of my discussing the sociological promise. He also makes a promise to his readers. He promises his readers that he would explain society as well as the purpose of it and how one should study it. I questioned his promise. How can the readers trust that Mills will follow through on his promise? What justifies his sincerity of ambition. Mills states, “Nowadays men often feel that their private lives are a series of traps”. When Mill’s states “traps” he is explaining to his audience that his choice of words will be in everyday language.
Mills had many important key concepts however, one that happened to be very important would be the overall topic. The sociological imagination which also means the ‘quality of mind’. This concept allows an individual to fully understand “history and biography and the relations between the two within society”.