Soc101 Week 3 Sociological Imagination.Docx

1269 Words6 Pages
C. Wright Mills and his ‘Sociological Imagination’ Chase Jenkins SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology Instructor Mark Bradell One of the most famous sociologists was Charles Wright Mills , who fathered the theory of ‘sociological imagination’. Sociological imagination is a method of thinking that uses information or data to help us form theories about social patterns that surround us in life. (Vissing, 2011). This paper will describe his theory and provide three reasons the author agrees with sociological imagination. C. Wright Mills was born on August 28, 1916 in Waco, Texas. He grew up in several different cities in the United States, as his father was a traveling insurance agent for Banker’s Life in Des Moine, Iowa. He eventually spent most of his high school years in the Texas heartland. Many people believe his Texas upbringing was a factor in how he viewed humanity and it’s culture. Mills himself believed he could view America’s culture more clearly, from Texas, because he was brought up in a region that was just beginning to experience the sociological changes which occurred in Chicago and New York. (Grist, 2001) Mills father traveled a lot and often wore a white dress shirt and tie. He was also small in stature. From these two characteristics, of his father, Mills coined the terms ‘white collar’ (worker) and ‘little man. Since he was mostly raised by his mother and older sister, his father sent him to Texas A&M university to ‘make a man’ out of him. Mills was not fond of this, but it influenced him and helped set his ideals and beliefs. While in college, C. Wright Mills was indoctrinated to life as a young freshman in a harsh manner. He routinely went through various ‘rough’ times and got beat up by not following the accepted ‘norms’ of the college student structure. (Grist, 2001) After much conflict with being

More about Soc101 Week 3 Sociological Imagination.Docx

Open Document