When a person thinks of their life, they consider the things that happen every day and their standards. Charles Wright Mills developed the idea of sociological fantasy, which is a way to describe how individuals can think outside the box. In analyzing the social outlook, sociological thinking will help you to think differently. One will see much more.
This sociologist says that sociological imaginative is a connection of people with history. He defined sociological imaginative as “the awareness that personal experience is interconnected with the larger society”. It is also the ability to understand people, history, and society. Individuals and society are interdependent; it is impossible to understand one without understanding the other. Mills concludes from all of this that sociological fantasy provides a better understanding of our effects on society, and vice versa. Sociological imagination aims to “make strange things familiar”. Empathy is what it’s all about; one must step back from their daily lives and look at the “bigger view”. This broad perspective will reveal the conjunction between biography, history and culture. This perspective will encourage those with sociological imaginations to ask questions about the connections they face. These questions include “what is this society’s structure as a whole?” and “where does this society fit in the history of mankind?”. They also ask, “What are the types of men and woman that now dominate this society in this time period?”. In some cases, the questions may be based on private or public problems. Conflicts within yourself are personal troubles of milieu. These problems are often caused by individuals, close relations, and restricted social areas. A public issue of a social structure is when the matter spreads outside oneself or local environment, like immediate family and friends. These issues can be distinguished by defining troubles as private problems and issues as public problems. Mills finds that the ability to distinguish between the terms is “a crucial tool for sociological imagination”. It is important to distinguish between issues and troubles, as the public issues tend to be overlooked. Many people believe that problems are the personal issues of individuals. People may, for example, accept that a person committed suicide but still consider this to be “common”. People may assume that “it was his life and choices”. Only him and family. It’s not about me.
Emile Durkheim, however, would likely disagree. He brought history in to his work, “Suicide”, and explained the sociological imaginative imagination. It is common to mistakenly think that suicide is a private matter. However, it can also be a social issue. The strains in the family could lead to suicide. High suicide rates could be attributed to the pressures people feel, such as the desire for an advanced education and the high costs associated with it. Another factor is the lack of employment opportunities after school. The suicide of this individual has now become a matter that is public, not just private. Suicide is therefore not only a private problem, but also a social issue. Mills meant this correlation in his statement, that “neither (personal troubles or public issues) can be understood by an individual nor a society without understanding them both”.
As stated earlier, societies and individuals are mutually created. A society is made up of people. It is composed of habits, beliefs, culture, identities, behaviors, interactions, etc. Yet, the society we live in could make or breaks us. The environment we live in shapes our personalities and has a strong influence on us. Understanding one without understanding the other is very difficult. In this way, the lives of individuals and the histories of societies are bound to interact.
Charles Wright Mills argues that sociological imagination involves more than just envisioning. It also requires understanding. Mills defined sociological fantasy as “a quality of the mind” that allows you to grasp an individual’s society and history, personal issues in context with public social issues, etc. The practice of sociological creativity will lead to more opportunities than expected. It begins with an odd route that reveals a natural way.
