From almost the first breath we take begins the endless path of sorting our way through life. As Charles Lemert (1993) states in his book Social Theory: the Multicultural and Classic Readings, “Social theory is a basic survival skill.” Each of us utilizes what C. Wright Mills (1959) coined “The Sociological Imagination” to find our way through and overcome life’s obstacles. As we move through life, we observe what goes on around us in order to get a better understanding of how we fit in. We try to make sense of past processes and rework them to fit current needs. We evaluate every scenario we enter into and try to figure out our place and how to relate. Our “Social Imagination” (Mills, 1959) is to human nature one of our almost instinctual level survival skills that help us adjust to an ever changing world around us.
Currently the world is entering into a time of human existence that could be compared as accurately today by Mill’s question of 1959, “In what period have so many people been so totally exposed at so fast a pace to such earthquakes of change?” Complete upheavals in our society are currently unfolding and humankind is going back to the drawing board and reformulating what it needs to do to adapt and survive. We were told that if you work hard, remain loyal to your company and your government that you could one day enjoy the American dream. We were told that the powers that be watched out for our best interests. Now, as more and more of the worlds population find themselves either unemployed or under employed, many look back to established notions and expectations only to find that they either no longer apply to today’s rapidly changing world or they never did apply.
It is during these times of turmoil that social theories take a front stage as people try to figure out not only why things are changing, but also how to cope with that very change itself. As Mills (1959) points out, it is through the “means of the sociological imagination” that people are trying to figure out what happened. In spite of following all the rules laid before them by those in power, they now find themselves without futures and without hope. They reach out to government for answers, but at the same time many no longer trust in those answers.
In the early 1980’s, a new “social theory” of sorts was floated to America; allow the rich to become richer by deregulation along with massive tax cuts and they will surely “trickle down” their abundant assets to those below them. Thirty years later, the world is coming to the realization that we’ve been had. We were led to believe in the “goodness” of those in power and that keeping society happy was known by the powerful to be in their best interest. Today with mounting dissent both here and around the world, society is re-evaluating the very system itself. However, as Lemert (1993:5) points out when he states “Thinking the New World Order”, things have changed from the earlier days of social theory. There is a growing tide of theorists coming from within that are far different and diverse than the traditional theorists of the past.
Just as the age of modernity brought about some of the first social theorists trying to explain the changes that were happening back then, today’s world is moving through another pivotal era of change that will require everyone to look not only at their own situations, but that of society’s as a whole. As we move into a monumental election year in America, the world around us also continues to go through massive changes that can’t be ignored. The world faces challenges both controllable by mankind as well as those no longer within the control of mankind. As social theorists look to the past and try to explain the future, all of us need to look to our sociological imaginations and try to find our place.
Currently the world is entering into a time of human existence that could be compared as accurately today by Mill’s question of 1959, “In what period have so many people been so totally exposed at so fast a pace to such earthquakes of change?” Complete upheavals in our society are currently unfolding and humankind is going back to the drawing board and reformulating what it needs to do to adapt and survive. We were told that if you work hard, remain loyal to your company and your government that you could one day enjoy the American dream. We were told that the powers that be watched out for our best interests. Now, as more and more of the worlds population find themselves either unemployed or under employed, many look back to established notions and expectations only to find that they either no longer apply to today’s rapidly changing world or they never did apply.
It is during these times of turmoil that social theories take a front stage as people try to figure out not only why things are changing, but also how to cope with that very change itself. As Mills (1959) points out, it is through the “means of the sociological imagination” that people are trying to figure out what happened. In spite of following all the rules laid before them by those in power, they now find themselves without futures and without hope. They reach out to government for answers, but at the same time many no longer trust in those answers.
In the early 1980’s, a new “social theory” of sorts was floated to America; allow the rich to become richer by deregulation along with massive tax cuts and they will surely “trickle down” their abundant assets to those below them. Thirty years later, the world is coming to the realization that we’ve been had. We were led to believe in the “goodness” of those in power and that keeping society happy was known by the powerful to be in their best interest. Today with mounting dissent both here and around the world, society is re-evaluating the very system itself. However, as Lemert (1993:5) points out when he states “Thinking the New World Order”, things have changed from the earlier days of social theory. There is a growing tide of theorists coming from within that are far different and diverse than the traditional theorists of the past.
Just as the age of modernity brought about some of the first social theorists trying to explain the changes that were happening back then, today’s world is moving through another pivotal era of change that will require everyone to look not only at their own situations, but that of society’s as a whole. As we move into a monumental election year in America, the world around us also continues to go through massive changes that can’t be ignored. The world faces challenges both controllable by mankind as well as those no longer within the control of mankind. As social theorists look to the past and try to explain the future, all of us need to look to our sociological imaginations and try to find our place.