The Sociological Imagination

C. Wright Mills was a professor of sociology at Columbia University in the 1950's. In time I will review many of his books, including; The Sociological Imagination, White Collar, The Power Elite, The Marxists, The Causes of World War III, Character and Social Structure among others. In The Sociological Imagination, Mills draws a distinction between personal troubles and public issues within society. One needs to understand the intersections of history (& the social sciences) and the individual biography to understand and distinguish between personal troubles and public issues that cannot be solved by any one man.

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[thedjlovemuscle]

Great video, I was wondering if you have done anything on Ivan Illich and his book "Deschooling Society" I've got to point out however, something that did make me laugh.. on 0:49 you said you'd given up making statements like "the greatest intellectual and stuff like that", however on 1:03, just 14 seconds later, you said you cosider him "one of America's greatest intellectuals, certainly of the 20th century".

[radiohogan]

Thank you for reminding me of Ivan Illich.

[anjewl360]

Hey Mike,

Love your work...I am doing a paper on Sociology and listening to what you have to say on it helps me understand sociology that bit more.

Thanks for the great work - PLEASE keep it up!

[radiohogan]

Hello Anjewl360:

Please view my other sociology videos:

1. Bureaucracy & the Idiot (based on Mills)

2. Reason & the Cheerful Robot (Mills)

3. C. Wright Mills

4. Is Mills Relevant Today?

5. Sociology 101 - Weber, Durkheim, Marx & Mills

6. Max Weber & the Iron Cage

All the Best / Mike Hogan

[radiohogan]

Hi Anjewl360:

Part II

I also did two videos about Emile Durkheim's theory of how religion began:

Religion 102 Part I

Religion 102 Part II

Best / Mike Hogan

[danibrown1987]

Thankyou for your click, this has really given me more of an understanding on the socilogical imagination

please do more clicks xx

[radiohogan]

HI DB1987:

Your comment and support are appreciated.

Live and Be Well / Mike Hogan

[zsylvana]

Thank you dear Mike for a ecelent work!I am so happy you did this video!!In a 1997 survey of members of the International Sociological Association which asked them to identify the ten books published in the 20th century which they considered to be the most influential for sociologists, they ranked The Sociological Imagination second, preceded only by Max Weber's Economy and Society.Thanks again Mike!!

[lGnossos]

Aha! Glad to hear Mills getting talked about! Thanks to zsylvana, I've read quite a bit of Mills lately and I'm glad to see you spreading the good word, Mike!

[JimBowie1133]

@Rayven10 ,I disagree, they are intrinsically related but not the same thing. However, Sociological understanding is necessary for valid Psychological insights. The lack of understanding of the Social Mechanisms that shape behavior has been a hindrance in the development of psychology. I suggest you read some of the work of Erich Fromm -

[Rayven10]

@JimBowie1133 Entirely possible, but almost everyone in my class ended up hating the subject and the professor. And since that time, I've spoken to other people who were in taking the class with a different professor and they said the same things.

Sociology is nothing more than psychology on a mass scale. It is a subject comprised of nothing more than people writing papers and patting each other on the back. It should be eliminated and psychology should be expanded to cover.

[JimBowie1133]

@Rayven10 , that could be it, or maybe its that you're just less intelligent than you want to admit.

[Ghost572]

@Rayven10 Yeah I kinda feel its more opinion based, there some intresting parts to it but I've got a few subjects im working through, my course was part of a mixed course including other subjects like science , psychology.

Deffo seems a bit zany at times, but the parts that tie in with psychology are intresting thats all i can say really.

[Rayven10]

@Ghost572 I finished my sociology course and got a B. I didn't learn a single thing, other than sociology is a complete waste of time.

If you need a real definition, it is more or less psychology on a mass scale. That's it. Sociology is a made-up subject to allow people to stay in academia doing research and writing papers - and getting paid to do it. Nothing more.

If you're taking a sociology course, good luck to you. You'll need it.

[Ghost572]

@Rayven10 Yeah i'm having trouble understanding what socialogical imagination is and this guy just uses big words and blabs on. A true sign of a clever person is someone who can explain something hard in the simplist form... this guy just yaps on : (

[gixxerik714]

Great video. You helped me understand the SI a bit better than my professor.

[Rayven10]

This video is just like sociology classes: droning on without reaching a point.

The sociological imagination is basically the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and society as a whole. That's it - nothing more to see here.

Instead, sociology courses and books go on and on about all kinds of terms that drain the humanity out of humanity and make students want to hang themselves just to alleviate the mind-numbing boredom.

[A23Angelo]

Thank you so much for the video!! really understand now the concept of what the sociological imagination was all about!

[Spackliwackli]

Great video, really informative and crystal clear !! :)