The Sociological ImaginationThe Sociological Imaginationand the American Dreamand the American Dream

Sociological ImaginationC. Wright Mills, 1959

“The Intersection of History and Biography within the context of Social Structure.”

Sociology helps us to see our lives and the lives of others in social and historical context.

Each Component is EssentialEach Component is Essential History: how a society came to be and how

it is changing and how history is being made in it. The great narrative.

Biography: the nature of "human nature" in a society; what people in a particular society are experiencing, and how they interpret that experience.• Human nature is a social creation.

Social structure: how the various institutional orders in a society operate, which ones are dominant, how they persist and how they change.

Sociological Imagination, RestatedSociological Imagination, Restated

How individual experience and life narrative (little story) is shaped and made meaningful by the playing out of the narrative of history (big story) which we understand by analyzing various social structures and institutions.

Personal Issues in Social ContextPersonal Issues in Social Context

Connection between • Personal issues • Public issues of social structure

Individual experiences in various and specific situations are shaped by structural changes.

Personal problems can only be understood in larger structural context and thus take on social significance.

Durkheim’s Suicide:• Our most intimate thoughts and feelings have

a profound social component.

Sociological Imagination Remains Counter-Cultural

Explanations for troubles are individualistic, psychological.

Psychological explanations are dominant (in popular culture, etc.).• Oprah, Dr. Phil.

The American DreamThe American Dream

The American Dream

The American Dream is the faith held by many in the United States that through hard work, courage, and determination one can achieve financial prosperity and security.

Connected to belief in Progress. Connected to belief in Equal Opportunity. Specific content evolves as social

conditions change.

Changing DreamChanging Dream Post Civil War: Personal Autonomy, Self-sufficiency: Post Civil War: Personal Autonomy, Self-sufficiency:

• Be your own bossBe your own boss• Homestead ActHomestead Act• Little House on the PrairieLittle House on the Prairie

Post World War II:Post World War II:• Consensus AmericaConsensus America

Company, Union, Govt. cooperationCompany, Union, Govt. cooperation Middle class life available to blue collar workers with high school Middle class life available to blue collar workers with high school

educationeducation Lifetime employmentLifetime employment Single breadwinnerSingle breadwinner

• Rise of Suburbia (Like Littleton)Rise of Suburbia (Like Littleton) Cheap energy, housing, educationCheap energy, housing, education Freeway SystemFreeway System G.I. BillG.I. Bill Community College SystemCommunity College System

• Clear Path to Middle Class SecurityClear Path to Middle Class Security

American Dream in the 21American Dream in the 21stst Century Century

Postwar structure has radically changed. Globalization:

• Investment, jobs• Labor Outsourcing• Role of digital technologies: Internet and the Death of Distance

From Production to Consumption Orientation:• From GM to Wal-Mart• Bubble economy, huge debt levels.

Industrial Economy to Knowledge Economy• From manipulation of objects to manipulation of symbols• Importance of Human Capital

Middle-class risk• Increasing income inequality (hidden by housing bubble)• Pensions to 401K. Risk shifting.• Housing, healthcare, education become much more expensive• Path to secure middle-class life much less clear, changing rapidly

ConclusionConclusion

Biography intersects history in our Biography intersects history in our own time in a powerful way.own time in a powerful way.

Understanding this can empower Understanding this can empower both our private and public selves.both our private and public selves.

All human phenomena—from the tragic to the trivial—can be understood sociologically.