C. Wright Mills' 'The Sociological Imagination': An Analysis

The Sociological Imagination Arlenys Checo East Williamsburg Scholars Academy Medgar Evers College: SOC 101

The sociological imagination is a known concept utilized by the American sociologist C. Wright Mills, to initially describe the ability to “think yourself away from the familiar routines of everyday life” and view them from an entirely new perspective. Having a present sociological imagination is critical for individuals and colossal

Fundamental to Mills’ specific theory is the idea of said ‘public issues’ and ‘private troubles’ in relation to how an individual’s troubles are personal primarily because they occur due to the individual’s character. Public issues, however, are a direct result of the issues within a society. They affect people immensely but most of the time, the individual will order or demand the problem as their own personal downfall instead of claiming it to be a societal problem. Mills suggested that problems like these are interwoven with the larger scale problems of society where government policy may possibly be involved and therefore are ‘public issues’. Mills states that “Troubles occur within the character of the individual and within the range of his immediate relations within others; they have to do with his self and with those limited areas of social life which he is directly and personality aware.” In addition he then states that “Issues have to do with matters that transcend these local environments of the individual and the range of his