The promise of sociology that C. Wright Mills discusses is that we, as individuals, link individual experiences with the social world and vice versa, thus create this sociological imagination that we practice everyday. By accepting the sociological promise we can explain what Mills is saying: “neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both” (1). Allan informs us that sociology is the only social science that plays a pivotal role on race, class and ethnicity (3 & 4) and this is how sociology came into existence. By having a keen eye in where you place yourself into society, questions and explanations about the social world begin to surface. According to Charles Lemert “social theory is a basic survival skill and when it is done well it can be a source of uncommon pleasure” (1). It is an uncommon pleasure of accepting what is there and asserting it. Social theory is done everyday and we tend to develop it at an early age; however, we do not recognize it. For these reasons the sociological imagination is a powerful instrument to explain social norms we come to expect (Zopf).
When relating modern issues of industrialization and urbanization, we can analyze race as a social structure. In order for society to dissect social problems, modernity needs to take into effect. With industrialization and urbanization come new rules and new problems because society is then changing the way the social world is organized (Zopf). Industrialization, as far as institutions, segregates individuals by social division: upper, middle and lower classes. Society is about power, and with power comes control of what comes in, what is built, what can be bought, etc.…
Urbanization implements immediate relations where we have control and change the social construct. Looking at the larger picture, urbanization can be viewed at Chicago’s disconnected city. Chicago is the one of the most diverse cities in America, but also one of the most segregated. Individuals moving in from rural to urban cities disperse in communities where they share similarities among people who connect with the same cultural backgrounds. As specified by Mills, individuals in communities overlap forming a larger structure of social and historical life, which creates a public matter due to structural and individual changes (5).
Positivism is the theory that laws are to be understood as social rules, and are considered valid because authority enacts laws and sociology continues to discipline modernity’s social goals. Because of society and the use of the sociological imagination, acknowledging the inevitable the sociological imagination becomes clear that our personal experiences link to the social world. However, we as individuals are ignorant to the larger spectrum because we are not directly affected by social issues, so their lack of knowledge results in happiness. We take what we want and disregard what is pertinent with us. Society needs to break between personal troubles and public issues, and realize we exist in the larger social world. By doing this we become aware and the sociological imagination can be awakened. Society is like a human body: we are organs, but in order to function together we must do so as a whole. Working as a whole, our eyes see the “world as it comes into being” and enables us to become active and resist and question the very institutions that blind-side us from social injustices or social issues (Lemert. 1). Social theory is not something to be viewed as black and white but rather examine the shades of grey in between.
When relating modern issues of industrialization and urbanization, we can analyze race as a social structure. In order for society to dissect social problems, modernity needs to take into effect. With industrialization and urbanization come new rules and new problems because society is then changing the way the social world is organized (Zopf). Industrialization, as far as institutions, segregates individuals by social division: upper, middle and lower classes. Society is about power, and with power comes control of what comes in, what is built, what can be bought, etc.…
Urbanization implements immediate relations where we have control and change the social construct. Looking at the larger picture, urbanization can be viewed at Chicago’s disconnected city. Chicago is the one of the most diverse cities in America, but also one of the most segregated. Individuals moving in from rural to urban cities disperse in communities where they share similarities among people who connect with the same cultural backgrounds. As specified by Mills, individuals in communities overlap forming a larger structure of social and historical life, which creates a public matter due to structural and individual changes (5).
Positivism is the theory that laws are to be understood as social rules, and are considered valid because authority enacts laws and sociology continues to discipline modernity’s social goals. Because of society and the use of the sociological imagination, acknowledging the inevitable the sociological imagination becomes clear that our personal experiences link to the social world. However, we as individuals are ignorant to the larger spectrum because we are not directly affected by social issues, so their lack of knowledge results in happiness. We take what we want and disregard what is pertinent with us. Society needs to break between personal troubles and public issues, and realize we exist in the larger social world. By doing this we become aware and the sociological imagination can be awakened. Society is like a human body: we are organs, but in order to function together we must do so as a whole. Working as a whole, our eyes see the “world as it comes into being” and enables us to become active and resist and question the very institutions that blind-side us from social injustices or social issues (Lemert. 1). Social theory is not something to be viewed as black and white but rather examine the shades of grey in between.