1.1 In The Sociological Imagination C. Wright Mills describes the sociological imagination as enabling “us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society” (Mills [1959] 2000:6). The sociological imagination facilitates individuals to locate themselves within society, the historical context of their society, and recognize the other individuals that are in his or her same state. “The sociological imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and external career of a variety of individuals” (Mills [1959] 2000:5). This enables people to understand their own experience and gauge fate.
1.2 Classical social theory and Mills’ conception of the …show more content…
They collect data and the data is ‘written up’ after the fact (Mills [1959] 2000:69). He also criticizes abstracted empiricists as being “a-historical and non-comparative” (Mills [1959] 2000:68). This practice does not allow them to study the systems in American culture. Most abstract empiricists assume psychologism. They attempt to explain social phenomenon in terms of the makeup and characteristics of individuals. Thus it is a denial of the social structures. This is problematic because society is more than a totality of its parts. People come and go in history, but structures remain. Inequality is reproduced because structures remain. To avoid discussion of structures will not lead to a discussion of how macro structures influence a person’s daily life, which negates the purpose of …show more content…
When you enter a job, you sell our labor power to a capitalist. Then you are alienated because of loss of control over means of production. The owner of your labor power then dictates what you do. As a capitalist wants to increase profits they invest in machines. The more machines they invest in the less surplus can be extracted. This drives down the price of the commodity. As a consequence wages are cut to allow for profits to occur. This also occurs as jobs become more specialized. The commodity begins determining what the subject does. The division of labor allows this inversion to happen. At the same time the concentration of capital and the centralization of industries all move forward together and produce less social interaction between people. As relationships are meditated more on more based on money, there is a higher form of
1.2 Classical social theory and Mills’ conception of the …show more content…
They collect data and the data is ‘written up’ after the fact (Mills [1959] 2000:69). He also criticizes abstracted empiricists as being “a-historical and non-comparative” (Mills [1959] 2000:68). This practice does not allow them to study the systems in American culture. Most abstract empiricists assume psychologism. They attempt to explain social phenomenon in terms of the makeup and characteristics of individuals. Thus it is a denial of the social structures. This is problematic because society is more than a totality of its parts. People come and go in history, but structures remain. Inequality is reproduced because structures remain. To avoid discussion of structures will not lead to a discussion of how macro structures influence a person’s daily life, which negates the purpose of …show more content…
When you enter a job, you sell our labor power to a capitalist. Then you are alienated because of loss of control over means of production. The owner of your labor power then dictates what you do. As a capitalist wants to increase profits they invest in machines. The more machines they invest in the less surplus can be extracted. This drives down the price of the commodity. As a consequence wages are cut to allow for profits to occur. This also occurs as jobs become more specialized. The commodity begins determining what the subject does. The division of labor allows this inversion to happen. At the same time the concentration of capital and the centralization of industries all move forward together and produce less social interaction between people. As relationships are meditated more on more based on money, there is a higher form of