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"…a quality of mind that will help them to use information and to develop reason in order to
achieve lucid summations of what is going on in the world and of what may be happening within
themselves. It is this quality, I am going to contend, that journalists and scholars, artists and
publics, scientists and editors are coming to expect of what may be called the sociological
The sociological imagination identifies the distinction between “private troubles,” and “public
issues :
“Perhaps the most fruitful distinction with which the sociological imagination works is between
'the personal troubles of milieu' and 'the public issues of social structure…” (Mills, 1959:8)
“Troubles occur within the character of the individual and within the range of his or her
immediate relations with others; they have to do with one's self and with those limited areas of
social life of which one is directly and personally aware.…” (Mills, 1959:8)
So, private troubles represent the private problems of individuals that must be solved by the
individuals in their social settings whereas public issues are matters beyond an individual’s
control that are caused by problems at societal level. In other words, private troubles can be
explained at the micro level but public issues are explained at marco level. For example, the
personal problems of war, when it occurs, may be how to survive it or how to die in it with
honour; how to make money out of it; how to climb into the higher safety of the military
apparatus; or how to contribute to the war’s termination. In short, according to one’s values, to
find a set of milieux and within it to survive the war or to make one’s death in it is meaningful.
But the structural issues of war have to do with its causes; with what types of persons it throws
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up into command; with its effects upon economic and political, family and religious institutions,
In today’s society, it is easy to see people blaming themselves for the personal life problems they
face. For example, a poor-educated father may blame himself for not being able to support his
family well due to shortage of money and unavailability to find a decent job. Another could be a
newly-wed couple having daily arguments which may lead to their divorce or a case of where
women are facing difficulties perceiving their housekeeping responsibilities as a mother wanting
to become something more than just a housewife. These various private tensions may seem very
personal. But according to sociologist C. Wright Mills, these problems are all related to a bigger
world called society and this is known as the sociological imagination. Sociological imagination
suggests that people look at their own personal troubles as social issues and, in general try to
connect their own individual encounters with the workings of society. The personal problems are
closely related to societal issues such as unemployment, marriage, war and even the city life
where the private troubles and the public issues become clearly apparent.
If we have not learnt the sociological imagination, we would not have been able to understand
how society relates to our daily decision makings and beliefs we have developed throughout the
years. We might think that our personal problems are only affected by our private issues and can
not imagine that sociological issues could be such a big of an impact. In many areas such as
gender and sexuality, family and culture, race and ethnicity, and social class and stratification are
all the causes and results of various personal problems we have throughout our life. Once we
begin to learn these sociological concepts, we are able to relate them more to our life and start to
question how society can be changed. We must realize and accept that little actions can change
the society which can bring dramatic changes to our daily lives. We have to stop thinking that
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http://www.hss.iitb.ac.in/courses/HS%20205/Sociology%20-%20An%20Introduction.htm
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society is merely a big institution that we as “small people” can do nothing to bring about a
change. We have to realize that we may be created and controlled by the social world, but at the
same time we create the society. As we raise our children, we have to try to bring them up as
individuals rather than a boy and a girl. As we meet people of different races, we are not only
going to limit ourselves to Chinese and other Asians, rather we will try to get off from our
comfort zone and be part of different groups of people. These things may not be easy as it sounds
because of beliefs that society has already formed in our mind. However, we have to try to stay
open-minded and that society can indeed change if we all become aware of each of our own
sociological imaginations.
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