ATS1365 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Social Forces, Social Actions, Moodle
8 May 2018
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INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY: LECTURE 2
Assessment #1
Short Reflection Piece (750 words)
Due Monday 19th March 11:55pm
Worth 15%
Use our soiologial iagiatio to reflect on your position in Australian society today.
What soial fators hae shaped ho ou are?
The Sociological Imagination
C. Wright Mills
• Concept developed by C. Wright Mills in 1959
• The sociological imagination distinguishes between personal troubles and public
issues but shows us how both are socially connected
He argued that
• Many people did not make the connections between their own lives and things
happeig i the orld, ad the iterpla of idiiduals ad soiet, of iograph
and history, of self ad orld. (Wright Mills, 99, The Sociological Imagination, p4)
• The deelopet of a soiologial iagiatio ould ake it easier for idiiduals
to understand the connections between broader social structures and individual
lives.
While C. Wright Mills ook is o earl ears old, e still use the “oiologial
Imagination to frame how conceptual and theoretical thinking allows us to understand the
world around us.
(based on the work of Ken Plummer)
How to develop a Sociological Imagination
1. Search for underlying structures and social patterns
• Keep looking for social patterns
• Most of our lives are lived in habits and routines
• Social environments such as suburbs and cities operate in patterned and
differing ways – there are rules and norms that govern our behaviour
• All societies develop identifiable patterns
2. Understand social actions and meaning
• Humans want to understand the social patterns they adhere to
• Social actions and interaction allows them to do this
• Practices and habits tend to cluster into patterns as well
3. Bridge micro/actions and macro/structures
• How do we connect individuals with society?
• How do we find a balance between respect for individuality and the need for
social order via social structures?
4. Empathise with lived cultures
• Humans have never stopped trying to find meaning and sense in the world
around them
• Culture is uniquely human
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Worth 15% (cid:858)use (cid:455)our so(cid:272)iologi(cid:272)al i(cid:373)agi(cid:374)atio(cid:374) to reflect on your position in australian society today. What so(cid:272)ial fa(cid:272)tors ha(cid:448)e shaped (cid:449)ho (cid:455)ou are? (cid:859) The sociological imagination: wright mills, concept developed by c. wright mills in 1959, the sociological imagination distinguishes between personal troubles and public issues but shows us how both are socially connected. While c. wright mills(cid:859) (cid:271)ook is (cid:374)o(cid:449) (cid:374)earl(cid:455) (cid:1010)(cid:1004) (cid:455)ears old, (cid:449)e still use the o(cid:272)iologi(cid:272)al. Imagination to frame how conceptual and theoretical thinking allows us to understand the world around us. (based on the work of ken plummer) Inequalities are not just social or economic (although these two are the main focus of sociology); inequality can be geographic, biological as well. Think about your own position in society in relation to other your own age, in your own ethnic or racial group, etc. Analysing social life requires us to think outside our own perspectives, and consider much broader and ever-changing social factors.
