Define sociological perspective( or imagination), cite its components, and expla

Question

Define sociological perspective( or imagination), cite its components, and explain how they were defined by C. Wright Mills.
Why is culture often take a for granted and considered as being natural for members of the society in which it is practiced? Define sociological perspective( or imagination), cite its components, and explain how they were defined by C. Wright Mills.
Why is culture often take a for granted and considered as being natural for members of the society in which it is practiced?
Why is culture often take a for granted and considered as being natural for members of the society in which it is practiced?

Explanation / Answer

The Sociological Imagination gives the one possessing it the ability to look beyond his/her local environment and personality to wider social structures and a relationship between history, biography and social structure.Understanding and being able to exercise the sociological imagination helps us understand the relationship between the individual and society. Mills focuses on the distinction of personal troubles and public issues. For example, exercising is not just a personal behavior but is vastly influenced by society. The 3 components that form the sociological imagination are: HISTORY-How did this society come to be and how it is changing? Where does it “fit in” in human history? What are the essential features of this society? BIOGRAPHY- What people inhabit a particular society? What is happening to the people in the society during the period being considered SOCIAL STRUCTURE- What is the structure of the society being considered? How does this society operate? How might this society be changing? Mills used the term "sociological imagination" to explain what a sociological perspective could give a person who possessed it. One aspect of it was that an individual could only understand their own experiences in reference to a larger society. In other words, he claimed that good social science represented biography and history, and their "intersections within a society." Mills argued that micro and macro levels of analysis can be linked together by the "sociological imagination," which enables its possessor to understand the large historical sense in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals. Individuals can only understand their own experiences fully if they locate themselves within their period of history. The key factor is the combination of private troubles with public issues: the combination of troubles that occur within the individual’s immediate milieu and relations with other people with matters that have to do with institutions of an historical society as a whole. Mills thought it was possible to create a good society on the basis of knowledge, and that people of knowledge must take responsibility for its absence. Culture is the lens through which we perceive and evaluate what is going on around us. Although there is nothing "natural" about culture, it is assumed to be so because the material and nonmaterial aspects of a respective culture are all that we have usually experienced since birth. As Linton said, "The last thing a fish would ever notice would be the water." We have a tendency to use our own standards and ways of doing things as the yardstick by which all other aspects of society are judged. The effects of culture are profound and pervasive, touching almost every aspect of people’s lives. However, most people are generally unaware of their own culture; culture is so engrained that it is often taken for granted. People often become more aware of their own culture when their cultural assumptions are challenged by exposure to other cultures, particularly those with fundamentally different beliefs and customs. Culture involves the learned behaviors and symbols that allow people to live in groups. The primary means by which humans adapt to their environments and thats why nobody ever thinks about and takes it for granted or has a part of life living in a society.

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