Sociological Imagination The Promise Summary

After reading The Sociological Imagination Chapter One: The Promise by C. Wright Mills, I had mixed emotions about multiple topics in which he discussed. The overall subject of the Sociological Imagination is one that I found to be confusing. Firstly, I agree with his statement that, “Nowadays people often feel their private lives are a series of traps,” (Mills 1). This statement is then followed by the acknowledgement that humans, as individuals, are nothing but spectators of our everyday milieu. When going about our daily lives, many individuals feel as if they must do certain things because they cannot overcome the obstacles standing in their way. I agree with this idea because I personally feel as if some days I am “trapped” in my own life,
Wright Mills’ chapter that I found to be appealing is the idea of social positions. It should be clarified that social position is not discussing positions in terms of physical location, but as a hierarchical stature. It is similar in that of the location on the totem pole. Mills notes that,“…[Sociological Imagination] is the idea that the individual can understand her own experience and gauge her own fate only by locating herself within her period, that she can know her own chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in her circumstances,” (Mills 2). This quote is showing that in order for individuals to know their own future, they must know where they rank in place with everyone else. Another phrase that may also seem applicable here, is self-consciousness. Knowing everyone’s locations allows individuals to estimate where they may be in a few years, without over or under estimating themselves. If they see someone who is relatively close to their own social status being successful, they can then come to the conclusion that they too, will be successful. Their social position can then help them look back in history and see where they may be able to assist in the current making of history. Every person lives out a biography during their lifetime, and it helps shape society, even though their input is minor to the current history making (Mills 2). Social positions have helped shape history from generation to
There is a distinct difference between troubles and issues, and Mills makes that very clear in his work. According to Mills, “Troubles occur within the character of the individual and within the range of his or her immediate relations with others…,” (Mills 4). In other words, troubles are the problems that are concerned with the self and personal awareness within their direct surroundings. Troubles are private matters to an individual and occur when their values seem threatened. He also states that, “Issues have to do with matters that transcend these local environments of the individual and the range of her inner life,” (Mills 4). This also means that they are public matters, and become a problem when the public values become threatened. Issues are public matters and can range as small as one group of people to as large as a few communities. There are many common examples showing the difference between troubles and issues. Unemployment is a perfect example to differentiate between the two. Unemployment as a trouble is if one man is unemployed, and as an issue is if ten percent of the nation’s workers are unemployed. As one can see, the trouble is personal and the issue is public. Another example is war. The trouble of war is the need to survive and to make money out of it as a career. The issue of war is the cause and effects on others, therefore making it public. Those are examples