The Sociological Imagination
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| - | An '''imaginary''', or '''social imaginary''' is the set of values, institutions, laws, and symbols common to a particular [[social group]] and the corresponding society. [[Jacques Lacan]] introduced the term in 1936 and continued to use it throughout his work as one of the three orders in his psychoanalytic theory. The imaginary as a lacanian term entails connotations of illusion, seduction and fascination but is by no means unnecessary or inconsequential (as something that is illusory). It defines the dual relationship between the ego and the specular image. In 1975, [[Cornelius Castoriadis]] used the term in his book ''[[The Imaginary Institution of Society]]''. In 1995 "Technoscientific Imaginaries" was used as the title of a volume ethnographically exploring contemporary science and technology. A collection of encounters in the technosciences by a collective of anthropologists and others, edited by George Marcus, the goal was to find strategic sites of change in contemporary worlds that no longer fit traditional ideas and pedagogies and that are best explored through a collaborative effort between technoscientists and social scientists. While the Lacanian imaginary is only indirectly invoked, the interplay between emotion and reason, desire, the symbolic order, and the real are repeatedly probed. Crucial to the technical side of these imaginaries are the visual, statistical, and other representational modes of imaging that have both facilitated scientific developments and sometimes misdirected a sense of objectivity and certitude. | ||
| - | While not constituting an established reality, the social imaginary is nevertheless an institution inasmuch as it represents the system of meanings that govern a given social structure. These imaginaries are to be understood as historical constructs defined by the interactions of subjects in society. In that sense, the imaginary is not necessarily "real" as it is an ''imagined'' concept contingent on the imagination of a particular social subject. Nevertheless, there remains some debate among those who use the term (or its associated terms, such as ''imaginaire'', as to the [[ontology|ontological]] status of the ''Imaginary.'' Some, such as [[Henry Corbin]], understand the ''imaginary'' to be quite real indeed, while others ascribe to it only a social or imagined reality. | + | '''''The Sociological Imagination''''' is a 1959 book by American sociologist [[C. Wright Mills]] published by [[Oxford University Press]]. |
| - | Canadian philosopher [[Charles Taylor (philosopher)|Charles Taylor]] expands on the concept of Western imaginaries in his book "Modern Social Imaginaries" (2004). He attempts to describe modernity and modern morality as a system of mutually beneficial spheres, in particular the public sphere of [[Jürgen Habermas|Habermas]], market economy, and the self-government of citizens within a society. | + | Mills felt that the central task for sociology and sociologists was to find (and articulate) the connections between the particular social environments of individuals (also known as "[[social environment|milieu]]") and the wider social and historical forces in which they are enmeshed. The approach challenges a [[structural functionalist]] approach to sociology, as it opens new positions for the individual to inhabit with regard to the larger social structure. Individual function that reproduces larger social structure is only one of many possible roles and is not necessarily the most important. Mills also wrote of the danger of malaise {{clarify|date=September 2013}}, which he saw as inextricably embedded in the creation and maintenance of modern societies. This led him to question whether individuals exist in modern societies in the sense that "individual" is commonly understood (Mills, 1959, 7-12). |
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| + | In writing ''The Sociological Imagination'', Mills tried to reconcile two varying, abstract conceptions of social reality, the "individual" and the "society", and thereby challenged the dominant sociological discourse to define some of its most basic terms and be forthright about the premises behind its definitions. He began the project of reconciliation and challenge with critiques of "grand theory" and "abstracted empiricism", outlining and criticizing their use in the current sociology of the day. | ||
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| + | In 1998 the [[International Sociological Association]] listed the work as the second most important sociological book of the 20th century. | ||
| - | ==See also== | ||
| - | * [[Arjun Appadurai]] | ||
| - | * [[Gilbert Durand]] | ||
| - | * [[Noel B. Salazar]] | ||
| - | * [[Engaged theory]] | ||
| - | * [[Ethnomethodology]] | ||
| - | * [[Imagined communities]] | ||
| - | * [[The Imaginary (psychoanalysis)]] | ||
| - | * [[The Imaginary (Sartre)|''The Imaginary'' (Sartre)]] | ||
| - | * ''[[L'Imagination symbolique]]'' | ||
| - | * ''[[The Sociological Imagination]]'' | ||
| - | * [[Mores]] | ||
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The Sociological Imagination is a 1959 book by American sociologist C. Wright Mills published by Oxford University Press.
Mills felt that the central task for sociology and sociologists was to find (and articulate) the connections between the particular social environments of individuals (also known as "milieu") and the wider social and historical forces in which they are enmeshed. The approach challenges a structural functionalist approach to sociology, as it opens new positions for the individual to inhabit with regard to the larger social structure. Individual function that reproduces larger social structure is only one of many possible roles and is not necessarily the most important. Mills also wrote of the danger of malaise Template:Clarify, which he saw as inextricably embedded in the creation and maintenance of modern societies. This led him to question whether individuals exist in modern societies in the sense that "individual" is commonly understood (Mills, 1959, 7-12).
In writing The Sociological Imagination, Mills tried to reconcile two varying, abstract conceptions of social reality, the "individual" and the "society", and thereby challenged the dominant sociological discourse to define some of its most basic terms and be forthright about the premises behind its definitions. He began the project of reconciliation and challenge with critiques of "grand theory" and "abstracted empiricism", outlining and criticizing their use in the current sociology of the day.
In 1998 the International Sociological Association listed the work as the second most important sociological book of the 20th century.
